Winds are gonna nuke from the east and northeast, and that's an odd direction for us. As such, look for fresh drifts in unusual locations, especially on slopes with a westerly component to its aspect. As the day wares on, I expect today's drifts become more widespread and will begin packing a more significant punch. While I suspect most drifting occurs on the leeward side of mid and upper elevation ridges, be on the lookout cross-loading in chutes and gullies and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum. Breaking at or below our skis, board, or sled today's main avalanche problem is easily managed with terrain choices. Lose the wind... you lose the problem.

Our snowpack is mostly bomb dot com, but a few Black Swans preen on the shores, though all the right elements for a catastrophic avalanche need to align perfectly. Think... steep, rocky, wind loaded terrain in the windzone, especially slopes that have avalanched multiple times this year. Or in other words... you'd really have to get unlucky. Rather than try to out-guess the snowpack, just keep it simple and avoid places where you think there's a good chance of hitting rocks which in turn are likely places to trigger a deep, dangerous avalanche.