Strong Southerly winds will not quit, and fresh slabs will continue to form above treeline on Northerly aspects. Fresh drifts are easier to discern - they will likely be shallow and you may see cracking around your skis. Fresh drifts will be found on the leeward sides of ridge crests and terrain features such as gully walls and sub-ridges. There are plenty of old hard drifts that exist in the alpine as well. These older wind slabs are harder to identify and they may not release until you get well out on them. In general, you'll want to avoid steep slopes that have a smooth, rounded "fat" appearance or that sound hollow underneath. On slopes with a northerly aspect accumulating drifted snow has formed slabs 2'-3' thick that may also be overlying weak layers underneath.

In our recent travels we have been finding reactive weak layers in the upper meter of the snowpack. The distribution of these layers is spotty - they exist in some places and not in others. Regardless, these layers are capable of producing avalanches. So if you are considering riding on Northerly aspects you need to get out your shovel and look for weak, sugary, faceted snow. I am personally not riding on slopes steeper than 30 degrees that harbor any of these weak layers.

Photo illustrates a weak layer of faceted snow under a slab that we found over in the Corkscrew Glades on Saturday (10,100' NW aspect). An extended column test produced results of ECTP 21.

On a nearby slope we didn't find the upper faceted layer, but the Valentine's layer was alive and well producing a failure with a score of ECTP 26. Careful slope analysis is imperative right now, and you'll need to dig down close to 4' to determine the presence or absence of a weak layer.