Winds blew pretty hard in the overnight hours yesterday and created some fresh drifts up high that we found to be fairly stubborn. With our current poor snow pack structure it seems like any new load even from wind should be suspect. I would guess with a little time these wind slabs will become less and less sensitive to the weight of a rider.

The persistent slabs seems to be dormant in most terrain right now, at least for a backcountry traveler. We found ourselves pushing the slope angels today and got into some north facing slopes in the 36-38 degree range. Disclaimer - I still would feel uncomfortable in big open terrain that is unsupported, convex or perhaps been freshly loaded by the wind. We started out first on a gentle slope to assess the snow pack & terrain before committing to anything steep. After some thorough assessment, we all felt good with taking a look at the steeper slope. We did choose to avoid the next saddle up because the slope had a bit more wind slab and was just slightly steeper with more consequence.

The slabs seems to be relaxed enough and underlying facets have adjusted to the last load in the sheltered north facing terrain now. The terrain was shallow 70-100 cm and you could see the ground features on the slope.