Travel today was Little Water to Sheep S*&t Ridge. The Little Water avalanche is visible, and I also saw three separate natural avalanches on north-facing terrain along the Sheep S&$t Ridge. (Photo below.)
In looking at the crowns and bed surface of avalanches in Little Water and Sheep S&$t Ridge, the depths all indicate these avalanches all ran at the interface with the January Dry Layer, and did not step down to the Holiday Crusts or clean out the PWL. This means many slopes that have avalanched still have facets in place, and are candidates to avalanche again with the next load of snow or wind-loading. Mark White saw a similar pattern Thursday on Soldier Fork.
The snowpack is much less talkative today than the past few days, but triggering an avalanche on northerly aspects will be consequential. I'm concerned that as the weak Dry January Layer slowly adjusts, and as the slab gains strength and is more supportable, the likelihood of triggering an avalanche is slowly decreasing, but the consequences remain significant, with avalanches failing ~100 cms (2-4 feet) deep.
