The dust has settled since the weekend and I haven't heard about any new slides breaking deep into the buried and now preserved January facets. The good news is... many slopes are good to go and offer green light conditions. But the other side of the coin offers slopes just waiting for a trigger to come along and knock the legs out from underneath them. Our problem child is a weak, sugary layer formed during the early January dryspell which is now buried several feet deep under last weeks storm snow. While this weakness is starting to adjust to all the added weight of snow and wind, persistent buried weak layers like we're dealing with now, trick even the most experienced avalanche people and our current setup is no different. Patience is the key right now. Even though riders are getting onto many steep slopes without incident the avalanche conditions are hovering in the low probability, high consequence category. In other words... I wouldn't go to Vegas with those odds and I'm definitely not going to bet my life with those odds stacked against me. It doesn't mean you can't ride. It does mean you need to carefully evaluate your terrain choices and consider the consequences of triggering a slide. Low angle slopes offer great riding and reward with little risk... not a bad way roll today.

This slide on Currant Creek Peak illustrates the depth of the sleeping avalanche dragon. While they're getting harder to initiate, avalanches triggered on steep wind drifted slopes can break deeper and wider than you might expect.

A few tired, old wind slabs may be found along the ridges, but they're becoming less likely to trigger. However, don't get tricked into thinking this is the only avalanche game in town. A manageable wind drift could quickly get out of hand, especially if it breaks into weaker layers of the snowpack as it crashes down on the slope below.