West and northwest winds have been blowing in the 20's and 30's along the high ridges since early in the week and they've found plenty of light snow to whip into stout, hard, wind drifts. The vast majority of today's slabs are found on upper elevation, leeward slopes with a south or easterly component to their aspect... however, it's not all that straight forward. Adding a tricky variable to the mix are chutes and gullies facing the north half of the compass that have been cross loaded. Today's wind drifts may be a bit more stubborn, but they'll pack a punch and can easily end your season, especially in steep, unforgiving terrain. The hot ticket is to avoid fat looking rounded pillows of snow, especially if they sound hollow like a drum.

We might've forgotten about them, but our problem child, the January facets, aren't going away anytime soon. As a matter of fact they've been having a great time partying in our shallow snowpack, growing weak and sugary, and getting cranky when we tease them. While not widespread, avalanches breaking into this nefariously tricky weak layer aren't out of the question. It's counter-intuitive, but some of our weakest snow is found mid slope in steep, shady terrain. Best way to avoid getting tricked is to tone your slope angles down and think about not only the snow you're riding in, but also the snow you're riding on. Strong snow on weak snow is a dangerous combination and it allows us to get well out onto the slope before triggering a slide. If you feel the bottom falling out from under your machine and you're track is sinking into weak sugary snow that's a big red flag.

While not huge, this slide clearly shows the January facets still alive and well. This slide was triggered on the 13th on a steep north facing slope in upper Whitney Basin at about 10, 400' in elevation.

If you ever have questions about avalanche conditions on the North Slope... hit this guy up. Ted Scroggin know the place like no other. Here Ted takes a look at our pit results which failed on the January facets. Our ECT column propagated with 22 taps, producing a Q1 shear.