This weeks storm snow and water are starting to stack up and last nights strong winds along with continued snowfall is beginning to wake up some of our persistent weak layers buried in the mid portion of our snowpack. As as a matter of fact, I think in some zones that have a thin snowpack, especially terrain that avalanched earlier this year, we might be teetering on the edge.

Making matters more complicated than unusual is... we've got persistent weaknesses on all aspects of the compass, particularly in upper elevation terrain. And the bottom line is... anything persistent in our pack is tricky, can take long periods of time to heal, and our usual "bag of tricks" observations, particularly when we don't see avalanche activity, often suggest false "green light" conditions. So that means, you can ride some slopes and be good to go, while others just wait for us to roll along and knock the legs out from underneath. And here's the danger... once initiated, avalanches have a distinct possibility of breaking deeper and wider than you might expect.

We've had a lot of new snow this week and now its stacking up around our trailheads and at lower elevations. Remember... even if you're headed out for a trail run, snowshoe, dog walk, or family sled adventure, be aware of steep slopes above and adjacent to where you're playing and avoid terrain traps like gullies and streambeds.