Fresh drits, old drifts, we've got 'em all and they'll be difficult to identify today because now they're covered over with fresh snow. The main theme is... winds have been all over the place the past 48 hours, loading slopes in unusual locations and forming both hard and soft wind slabs. So, the key to a successful powder day is avoiding terrain where you can trigger an avalanche. Today you'll want to look for and steer clear of hard, fat rounded pieces of snow, particularly if they feel or sound hollow like a drum. I think the danger of trigger an avalanche is most concentrated on mid and upper elevation, cross-loaded chutes, gullies, or bowl features. Any avalanche triggered in terrain with these characteristics may be a little bigger than you bargained for. The good news is... this is an easy avalanche problem to avoid. Simply lose some elevation, get into wind sheltered terrain, and you begin to lose the problem.

Pictured above... a perfect example how wind can channel snow into terrain features and crossload chutes and gullies.

Corni... they're ridiculous this year, stretch for miles along the ridges, and are breaking back further than you might expect. You definitely want to give these unpredictable boxcar monsters the respect they deserve.