Nothing has changed with the shaky foundation of our snowpack structure, but last weeks storm snow is settling, getting stronger, and becoming more comfortable in its own skin... and that's the good news. But the bad news is, our snowpack is a structural gong show and it just won't magically heal overnight. And without getting all sciencey and snow nerdy with y'all, let's think about it this way... imagine you're building a home with a weak foundation that doesn't get any stronger over time, yet we have to keep on the construction schedule and we keep adding additional, heavier, more dense floors on top - eventually the whole structure collapses and if we're underneath, it crashes down on top of us. Last weeks new snow and wind drifted snow added more floors to this unstable, house of cards structure. And while many slopes avalanched naturally, there's still many more that just wait for a trigger like us to roll along and knock the legs out from underneath.

THIS AVALANCHE PROBLEM IS TRICKY - Tracks on a slope do not mean it's safe. As a matter of fact, as the snow gains strength it allows us to get well out onto the slope before it fails and it may be the 2nd, 3rd, or even 10th person on a slope who triggers the slide.

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Both new and old wind drifts lurk on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain terrain features like chutes and gullies.

The main issue with slabs of wind drifted snow is... they increase the load and stress on buried persistent weak layers which elevates the likelihood of triggering a slide. Once triggered, a small wind drift can easily get out of hand if it breaks into weaker layers of snow, buried deeper in the snowpack. Your best strategy is to simply avoid fat rounded pieces of snow, especially if they feel or sound hollow like a drum.