Nothing has changed on this front since midweek and today's avalanche dragon still has a dangerously subtle personality. It's gonna be tricky because we can ride some slopes without incident, thinking we're good to go, but roll up to steep, wind drifted terrain that didn't slide during last weeks big storm and now we're staring down the barrel of a dangerous avalanche. However, here's what I do know and make no mistake... this is the real deal and not the type of avalanche problem that we want to tangle with or try to outsmart. Today's avalanches could still potentially be triggered mid slope, low on the slope, or from a distance. Once initiated, they'll break deep and wide and could take out the entire seasons snowpack in some locations, resulting in a potentially unsurvivable slide. That's too much uncertainty for me to deal with so I'm keeping it simple... patience and avoidance are the only solution. I'm simply gonna ride low angle terrain in the sun and avoid being on or under steep, wind drifted slopes.

JG offers a beautifully detailed snowpit profile whilst offering some sage advice.... "Patience is your best friend right now. Play the slope angle game and stay out of the wind zone. Low angle terrain out of the wind zone offers great riding right now even with the amount of new snow we've received." He goes on to say.... "If you're traveling in the wind zone on the north half of the compass the danger is high and you should expect avalanches."

I took a look a large connected pocket that occurred sometime Tuesday as the winds were cranking and snow continued stacking up. A quick crown profile reveals the New Years wind slabs/facet combo is still alive and well, reacting to every significant storm since the turn of the New Year.

Sidenote- no roll of the dice here.... I was able to safely navigate my way down the adjacent slope (lookers left) because it's more gentle in slope angle, has more of a southerly component to it's aspect, and no weak snow near the ground.