The snowpack is slowly adjusting to last weeks storms and now most slopes wait for a trigger like us to roll along and knock the legs out from underneath.

Here's the setup... multiple layers of weak, faceted snow lurk underneath the snow surface. And while the powder feels light and fluffy, we need to think not only about the snow we're riding in, but also the snow we're riding on. But let's not get caught up with technicalities. Look around... there have been multiple slides triggered, a few close calls, and one tragic fatality nearby, with a snowpack structure similar to ours. The writing is on the wall and Mother Nature is screaming a warning to us with all the recent avalanche activity. And here's where the rubber hits the road... any slide triggered is gonna break deep and wide.

Hurricane force, south and southeast winds ripped through the mountains last week, forming dense cohesive slabs on leeward slopes at mid and upper elevations. Problem is... they're covered over with new snow making them hard to detect. The other problem, once triggered, they may break into deeper buried weak layers as the crash onto the slope below. Here's the good news... you can simply avoid this avalanche dragon by avoiding steep, wind drifted slopes, especially if the snow looks fat and rounded or feel and sounds hollow like a drum.