The overall avalanche danger is Low, but there are two things to watch for today:

- the increase in northerly winds overnight may mean you can find fresh pockets of wind-drifted snow in isolated terrain in the uppermost elevations;

- sluffing in the few inches of low-density is possible in terrain approaching 35 degrees or steeper, especially on northerly slopes;

As my partner noted on Thursday, although the avalanche danger may be Low, the risk of hitting rocks is extreme, and the recent snowfall has disguised rocks and other buried hazards such as stumps and downed timber.

Looking Ahead: Although our current snowpack is thin, there is widespread variability. Strong winds in the middle of November scoured many slopes, while others got a firm wind slab compressed into the terrain. Since that time, we have had several cold and clear nights that promote a "faceting" process which weakens the snowpack, turning the snow crystals into sharp, angular, weak grains. Drew was noticing this on Wednesday in the Snowbasin backcountry.

With high pressure forecasted for at least the next week, this faceting process will continue. For now, this is not a problem, but it may be an issue once we get a load of storm or wind-driven snow on top of this weak snowpack structure.