Accessed Butler Fork from Mill D North, walked on the summer trail across Big Water and Soldier Fork to the Nipple. No one had been past Big Water since the storm and was expecting some collapsing on the Soldier Fork ridge line but it didn't happen, the slab has stiffened up and settled out a bit just making the hazard not so in your face but just as deadly, now you can be fooled into getting on steeper slopes because their becoming more stubborn but if you hit the sweet spot a large and deadly avalanche can occur. We were still finding the rain crust up to 9000ft and in some places the new snow had been blown away leaving only the rain crust on the surface. There was a uncomfortable lack of natural activity from the storm and many big N facing slopes are just waiting for a trigger, patience is key in this type of situation and the ankle deep snow makes low angle skiing fast and fun.

Photos: big N facing slopes that are hanging in the balance, coyote tracks that had been made before the wind and are now raised after the ridge was wind soured.