Wind slabs appeared fairly well bonded today and cornices weren't very sensitive. I dropped one refrigerator-sized cornice chunk onto a steep drifted north facing slope and only produced a small new snow sluff.. Drifting from overnight southeast winds will probably build new wind slabs and thicken existing slabs in lee north and northwest facing terrain.

My experiences with faceted snow have mostly been bad, and despite lack of much related avalanche activity this winter, there are many areas plagued by the stuff. It's worst where the snow cover is shallow, like in the trees or along exposed ridge lines, but appears widespread at mid elevations and east of the Bear River Crest in the northern and eastern parts of the Logan Zone. The weak layers lie dormant for now but might be reactivated by a sudden addition of weight or a rapid rise in temperature, and both scenarios are possible in coming weeks as we head into springtime.