Winds continue to blow and drift snow in the high country. Today you'll have to contend with both shallow, recent deposits, and deeper, older drifts that formed earlier in the week. Wind slabs will be stiff, and maybe a bit stubborn today, but when they break, they could fail 2' deep or more. Due to the intensity of the winds, and high quantity of snow available for transport, drifting has occurred on all aspects. Avoid any steep slope that shows signs of recent wind loading. Expect to find recent drifts on the lee sides of ridge crests and terrain features such as gully walls, sub-ridges, and rock outcroppings. Fresh drifts are recognizable by their smooth rounded, pillowy appearance, and cracking in the snow surface is a sign of an unstable drift or wind slab.

Areas of wind drifted snow cover the high country. Note all the smooth, "pillowy" rounded deposits. Avoid steep wind drifted terrain such as this. Dave Garcia photo.

The snowpack is beginning to adjust to the new load, and it's getting deep enough that we should start to see some strengthening. Nevertheless, it's going to take some time before we can quit worrying about buried, persistent weak layers. The primary concern is a layer of weak, sugary, faceted snow that formed in mid December. Since Christmas Eve, regular storms have now piled more than 3' of snow on top of this layer. Add wind drifting, and we've seen avalanches up to 7' deep. The danger is greatest on steep slopes facing the north half of the compass, but I've found weak snow, and experienced collapsing on all aspects. The only good strategy for now is to continue to avoid steep terrain.

This video was shot last weekend, but it still describes the current state of the snowpack.