Ted and I caught this piece of snow in the far western reaches of the North Slope, most likely avalanching naturally early Thursday morning. Breaking deep and wide and failing on the January drought layer, this is exactly the type of avalanche dragon we're dealing with again today.

Andy Nassetta nailed it a few days ago... "We've got a dense Maritime-esque slab resting on weak, Continental facets." Indeed... a different type of strong snow on top of weak snow structure and very unusual for us. In fact, recent avalanche activity confirms this notion. And while I suspect we've rounded the corner for natural avalanche activity, I bet there's many slopes that wait for a trigger like us to roll along and knock the legs out from underneath.

So, here's the deal... from tip to tail, polar aspects at all elevations, harbor our most recent problem child, the well preserved and aptly named January Drought Layer (JDL). This faceted snow is extremely weak, and teeters on the edge with last weeks colossal storm... 2'-3' of snow and up to 3" of SWE, and now Tuesday night's additional shot of snow, water, and wind. The rubber band might not be as tightly stretched as it was a few days ago, but once it gets snapped, it's game on.

A 24 hour data dump from Windy Peak (10,661') illustrating wind direction and velocity.

Recent winds have been all over the map and I bet there's a fresh drift or two that'll react to our additional weight. Isolated to leeward terrain in the wind zone, today's wind slabs are a manageable avalanche dragon and easy to avoid. Simply steer clear of steep, drifted slopes and pieces of snow that are fat and rounded, or sound hollow like a drum. You've been around long enough and know, when we lose the wind... we lose the problem.