Travel today was Mineral Fork to Santiago Ridge. On our first run, we could get the top ~5 cms of snow to sluff on steep, sustained pitches. On our second run, the sun made a brief appearance which stiffened up the slab a bit, and we got some cracking in the top 5-10 cms, failing in cold/dry snow from Tuesday. But you had to be on something steep (> 35°) to get anything to move.

A quick shovel tilt test at the top of Santiago with a clean shear just above the crust that the Tuesday storm fell on. This is a density inversion containing lower density snow that was reactive on Tuesday, and still shows signs of some sensitivity. Shovel shear tests could not produce clean shears and compression tests would only collapse the entire column, with no obvious collapse at a specific weak layer.

Overall, we traveled with a Moderate danger rating mindset, and encountered a generally Low avalanche danger, with small sluffs and shallow soft slabs in steep terrain.

For those who are pursuing bigger objectives on Friday, your timing may be good with overall stability and mostly cold, dry snow. Watch for isolated wind drifts (they may be covered by the few cms of snow that fell on Thursday afternoon) and sluffing on steep slopes. If the sun appears, it may quickly/instantly turn the new snow into a cohesive soft slab that may be reactive, so pay attention to the changing texture of the snow surface.

Photos:

- Quick pit showing location of density inversion just above the old snow interface

- The likely avalanche from the wind slab on Sidewinder on Wednesday

- Glimpse into Mill B South from the top of Santiago Ridge during a break with excellent visibility. No signs of recent natural avalanches