Deeper every day

The combination of wind and storm snow has created potentially hazardous conditions at mid and high elevations, be extra cautious on wind loaded slopes and wary of any slope steeper than 30 degrees whether it is wind loaded or not. We have seen in excess of 3 feet of new snow in the Centennial Mountain range during the last week alone, without any break for the newly loaded slopes to stabilize. The PWL's deeper in the snowpack are largely dormant but could still be triggered in the shallower areas. Or a large loose snow avalanche could step down to the deeply buried PWL's. With the new round of snow expected during the next 48 hours, things could get a little dicey. 

Over 20 inches of new snow has collected during the previous 4 days. Additionally we have accumulated new snow during 12 of the last 13 days.

Upwards of 20 inches of snow is available for transport. Light winds can move a large amount of snow. More snow is scheduled for most days of the next week.

I only found one avalanche during today's tour, but our route was cut short just when we were going into the best terrain for avalanche activity because the travelling conditions became so difficult. NE aspect at 9000', crown broke about 3' deep immediately under the cornice. R2 D1 naturally triggered likely early morning of 3 March.

I saw some failures with my CT, but the extended column test scored an ECTX. The storm snow from the previous 48 hours has become my biggest concern with plenty of snow available for transport. Many large and deep soft wind drifts were encountered throughout the day.

My biggest concern is in the additional weight added to the snowpack incrementally most days during the last two weeks. With the available snow for transport and heavily wind loaded slopes our mountain terrain has become very hazardous on any slope steeper than 30 degrees. 

All terrain above 30 degrees has been closed. We stayed on shallow slopes the whole day and were very aware of surroundings at all times. This is not the time to explore unknown terrain only to find yourself in a dangerous situation.