The snowpack seems just plain worn out from weeks of alternating heat and wind, and triggering an avalanche is unlikely today. However, winter travel in the mountains always has avalanche risk so evaluate the snowpack carefully if you are getting into steep terrain.

Wind slabs: Yesterday’s strong winds eroded a lot of snow, but drifts were small, isolated and not very sensitive to skis. Mountain terrain channels the wind in odd ways, so look for these hard, rounded, hollow sounding wind slabs or drifts on a variety of aspects and elevations. They will be on the lee sides of ridge crests and around terrain features, like gully walls, sub ridges and down into open bowls at both the mid and upper elevations.

Persistent weak layer: Poor snowpack structure remains on shady mid and upper elevation slopes. While this hasn’t produced avalanches in the backcountry for 12 days, it’s hard to completely trust the layering of a stronger slab over a weak, faceted snow layer. Steep, rocky north and northeast facing terrain with fresh wind drifts is particularly suspect, and even slopes that have already slid this season can slide again.