Stable conditions exist in most locations.  Winds have been calm lately, except for wind channeled terrain, gaps and passes.   Benign weather over the last week has allowed for our upper snowpack to settle and gain strength.  New snow in the last 24 hours has been light and is not expected to significantly affect snowpack stability.  If more snow arrives today than forecasted the hazard will be higher.  There continues to be faceted snow at the base of our snowpack, although triggering an avalanche at this layer remains very unlikely.

The most likely place to encounter unstable snow would be on the lee side of high elevation ridge lines where sensitive wind slabs may exist in isolated locations.  Watch for hard snow over soft and wind textured surfaces that would indicate winds have been redistributing surface snow.  Avoid steep terrain where signs of instability exist such as shooting cracks or collapsing.  

Thompson Pass received 3 inches overnight and is forecasted to receive an additional trace today.  If the forecast is off and we end up receiving a significant amount of snow the hazard will be higher.  Surface Hoar currently exists at or just below the surface that is widespread in many locations.  The upper snowpack will become sensitive to human tiggers once a slab overlies surface hoar.

For the first time since 12-16 a natural avalanche was reported that failed at faceted snow near the base of our snowpack.  This occurred 1/6 on a SW aspect ~3500′ between Catchers Mitt and Loveland Basin, crown 1-6 feet in depth.  This is a repeat offender slope when loaded by wind, although is noteworthy due to its depth.  

This avalanche has thus far been an outlier, however indicates that the strong wind affected snow that has capped the early season facets may be losing strength (faceting) making weak snow more easily affected by a person or Snowmachine at the surface in certain areas.  

Recently our snowpack has been slowly building with light snowfall and calm to moderate winds.  This weather will help our snowpack to heal in the longterm but in the short term will be putting incremental stress on weak layers at the base of our snowpack.  This is a fine balance and is very difficult to assess as spatial (place to place) variability is currently significant.  This recent avalanche is a perfect example that persistent weak layers are difficult to predict/assess and conditions may be different depending upon the area you choose to travel.  

In most places at this point, triggering a deep hard slab avalanche is very unlikely, but the consequences would be significant.  Keep this in mind when choosing terrain and strive to practice safe protocols.  These include:  good communication, skiing one at a time and avoiding terrain traps.