We decided to head out and check the conditions on one of our favorite valley slopes. We found fun riding conditions on North facing slopes around 5500 feet. There was only about a foot of snow but with a solid 6 inches of base with 6 inches of White Christmas goodness on top it was decent riding. However, the only good riding was where there was little to no undergrowth and no rocks. No real avalanche concern however there was a significant amount of surface hoar building and could pose a problem if it is loaded during the next storm. There was also a buried layer of faceted snow along the ground and with the cold temperatures and large temperature gradient the snow is rotting fast and will soon be faceted throughout the snowpack.