West and northwest winds have been blowing steadily in the 30's and 40's along the high ridges the past few days, forming stiff wind slabs along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. While slopes with an east and southerly component to their aspect are most suspect, be aware of cross loading in terrain features like chutes and gullies in terrain facing the north half of the compass. Yup... there's a lot going on when the winds blow and there's snow available for transport. Best approach is to avoid steep, wind drifted slopes especially if they look fat and rounded or sound hollow like a drum. Gather information as you travel today. Tweak some small test slopes and road cuts and see how they're reacting before charging into big, committing terrain..

You can see by this picture, winds have been blowing from the right to the left, loading the steep, leeward chutes around Bald Mountain.

Strong snow on weak snow... it's what the Uinta's are famous for. Unfortunately, it's also this combination that leads to tricky avalanche conditions. The strong snow will allow us to get well out onto the slope before it fails and we trigger a deep, dangerous slide. A wild card in the deck is the possibility of triggering a slide mid slope or on your approach from the bottom. Best way to combat this condition is with terrain management. Tone down you're objectives a notch or two and consider the consequences of triggering a slide.