Our snowpack is up against the ropes this morning, reeling from the strong winds and heavy snow and trying to adjust to all this added weight. Like the Thrilla in Manilla, this flurry of jabs and upper cuts is testing the strength of our snowpack which is still trying to adjust to the last series of storms. While many slopes are thick and strong, the snow structure remains questionable, especially in steep, rocky terrain facing the north half of the compass. Problem is... the surface snow feels strong and solid underneath us, but it's the bad mojo near the ground that's the big red flag. Strong snow over weak snow often suggests false green light conditions, allowing us to get well out onto the slope or put several sets of tracks on the hill before we find a weakness, collapse the slope, and now all bets are off. Once triggered, avalanches can break deep and wide, taking out the entire seasons snowpack. Best way to manage this situation is with terrain choices. Simply tone down your objectives the next few days and avoid being on or under steep leeward slopes. Slopes facing the south half of the compass offer more predictable avalanche conditions.

The Uintas are white and slopes are well connected. This is the type of terrain where you could trigger a large slide that break to weak snow near the ground.

Wind drifts are becoming unmanageably deep and breaking wider than you might expect. They're packing a hefty punch and will quickly ruin your day, especially if you get slammed into trees or knocked over a cliff. In addition, once triggered, today's drifts have the possibility to break into weaker layers of snow, buried deeper in the snowpack. In either case, a seemingly benign situation can get quickly out of hand. As always, look for and avoid any fat, rounded pillow of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum.

Strong west and southwest winds had no problem moving lots of snow around yesterday. Due to the strength of the wind, today's fresh slabs will be lower on the slope than you might expect.