Can you believe we are discussing wet snow? Above freezing air temperatures and sunshine will make the snow wet on southerly facing slopes that receive direct sunshine. As the snow becomes wet, it loses strength and can produce loose wet avalanches. You'll see signs that wet avalanches could begin happening when roller balls of snow begin tumbling downhill. These usually happen first near exposed rocks that heat up quickly due to sunshine and help heat up the surrounding snow.

Avoid being on southerly facing slopes as the day heats up and you see these roller balls. I don't expect loose wet avalanches to be very large or fast-moving, but they have the consistency of concrete and could hurt.

Thick, cohesive slabs of wind drifted snow formed on many slopes this weekend due to hurricane force winds and snowfall on Saturday. Most of these wind slabs should have stabilized and be well bonded to underlying snow, but there remains a chance of triggering one.

Even though the odds of triggering one of these wind slabs are small, I would consider the consequences of being swept downhill in an avalanche before committing to a slope. Some slopes have worse consequences than others. Thinking about the consequences on every slope is a great habit to develop.

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Always think to yourself and ask people in your group:

(1) What type of avalanche could happen?

(2) What would happen to me if I were caught in it?

(3) Where will my partners be and could they perform a rescue?

The answers to these questions should dictate which slopes you ride and how you ride them.