These are the kind of snowpack conditions that trick most all-mountain riders. You're best bet for the next few days is to simply avoid steep, wind drifted terrain, especially mid and upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass.

Since the beginning of the New Year we've nearly doubled our snowpack and added over 7" of water weight... unprecedented for our hood. Until this week, avalanche conditions have been pretty straight-forward, but I think Tuesday nights storm sent the region into a tailspin and the western Uinta's experienced a remarkable, tree snapping, natural avalanche cycle. The carnage is jaw dropping with many slopes reaching their historic potential. The goods news is, many slopes avalanched naturally. The bad news is, there's plenty of slopes that wait for a trigger like us to come along and knock the legs out from underneath. But wait... there's more. The bad news within the bad news is, the problem is complicated because the snow will feel strong and bomber under our skis, board, or sled. The snow will lure us well out onto the slope before it collapses and we're staring down the barrel of a very dangerous avalanche.

So here's the deal... we've gotta think not only about the snow we're riding in, but also the snow we're riding on and there's a few buried weak layers that are straining to adjust to all this added weight. The snowpack is trending towards more stable conditions, but right now we need to tone it down, think about the consequences of triggering a slide, and be patient for a few more days.

An avalanche peeling off the North facing Moffit Chutes was packing heat when it blasted over this bench, splashing mature timber onto the uphill slope across canyon. (St. Jeor photo)

A few of the natural slides seen here in Upper Weber Canyon. Common theme with all the activity we're seeing is avalanches are very connected, breaking 3'-5' deep, entraining a large volume of snow, running long distances, and snapping mature timber as they crash down the slope.

A few drifts along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around mid elevation terrain features like chutes and gullies might still be sensitive to our additional weight. Remember- once triggered a seemingly manageable slide can turn your world upside down if it breaks into weaker layers buried deep in our pack. Best bet is to simply avoid steep, wind drifted terrain for the next couple of days.