Weak, faceted snow buried 2-3 feet deep was stressed by snowfall last Wednesday and many persistent slab avalanches occurred. The odds of triggering one of these slides has gone down, but yesterday's avalanche on Davenport Hill tells us that the potential remains.
Yesterday my partners and I were in Cardiff Fork. Drew and his partner were in nearby Days Fork. We agreed that buried faceted layers have become less sensitive. Ski tracks in steep terrain confirm this decreased sensitivity but don't confirm stability. The trouble now is that the sensitivity of slopes varies widely. Unfortunately we don't have the ability to tell the difference between these slopes with similar snowpack layering.
South facing slopes at mid and low elevations that have been roasted by the sun mostly lack buried faceted layers and are generally safe. Unfortuantely these slopes don't have very good riding conditions. Most slopes with good powder and good coverage have the layering that can produce avalanches.
Even if you're riding low angle terrain, watch for small steeper slopes that can produce slides like this one that Drew found yesterday.
Be especially watchful of the consequecnes of being caught in a slide. If riding in avalanche terrain, choose slopes with a runout free of trees or rocks. My partners and I were horrified yesterday looking at two slides from Saturday in Cardiff Fork that ran through dense trees. Mark White said it best, the slab is soft but those trees are hard. The slide below ran though the trees into the clearing underneath.