Professionals in the Ogden area are reporting the "pesky westerlies", or winds out of the west, building soft, sensitive wind slabs up to a foot deep in exposed upper elevation N-E-S terrain.

While these are more the exception than the rule today, be aware of the newer possibility of triggering an avalanche up to a foot deep that can propagate surprisingly wide. Given how stable the conditions have been with no new precipitation, take a moment to remind yourself that these are on the menu before climbing into the alpine today.

These will be most likely on along the Ogden Skyline, and less of a concern as you move east towards the mountains East of Eden.

The persistent ridge of high pressure also means persistently, generally stable avalanche conditions. Still, generally stable does not mean completely. We're mostly keeping an eye out for small slides that can knock you off your feet in/above consequential terrain.

Keep an eye out for loose dry sluffs of weak snow, particularly on very steep slopes, especially where the snow remains shallow or unconsolidated. As the snow surface continues to weaken, loose dry sluffs will become more common and deeper. Managing these requires attention and strategic skiing.

Long walks into far terrain and beacon practice have been on my menu lately. Now's a great time for both.