Strong snow on top of weaker snow... that snowpack setup isn't entirely unusual for us. What is unusual is that avalanches aren't breaking to weak sugary snow near the ground, that layer is solid and happy in its own skin. Rather... slides are failing on the persistent weak layer formed during the mid November dry-spell and that layer rests a couple feet off the ground. What's important to note is that avalanches now have a smooth surface with little resistance and that means they'll break wider and deeper and run faster and further than you might expect.

The most likely place to trigger an avalanche is where the snowpack is slightly shallower like lower down on the slope. The tricky party here is that once you knock the legs out from underneath, the entire wood pile crashes down on you! This avalanche dragon is found on slopes facing the north half of the compass, especially those in the wind zone at and above treeline, and particularly on slopes with an easterly component to their aspect. So, by avoiding this setup, you essentially avoid the problem.

My strategy is finding terrain I can ride, have a fun day, and NOT trigger an avalanche. And actually that's an easy one. Travel is straight-forward on a very supportable base and low angle terrain rides like a dream! With no shortage of great riding in big open meadows and on lower angle slopes, there's plenty of opportunity to avoid pulling on the avalanches dragons tail all together.

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