Storm slabs and ice bridge over the moat

Found a surprising lack of wind transport and a surprisingly reactive storm slab problem today near Marion Lake.

• 2" of low-density snow at valley floor and up to 6" at mid-elevations.  We triggered dozens of very shallow storm slabs at all elevations up to our turnaround point at 6,200'.  They were breaking 2-4" deep and propagating surprisingly wide distances (up to 75 feet wide).  This instability was so soft and shallow that it was easy to manage with ski cuts and sluff management techniques in steep terrain, but required caution around terrain traps.  
• We saw very little signs of wind transport; just small, very isolated drifts right on top of the ridgeline.  Driving observations of the Middle Fork Corridor and to Kalispell suggests this pattern continued across the entire Flathead Range and Northern Swan.  The new snow was still well-intact on tree boughs at mid and upper elevations, with wind erosion off of trees on some lower elevations.  
• Concerns for instabilities on the 1/17 surface hoar/facet interface were minimal here.  A stout melt-freeze crust (1" to 3" thick) is capping the persistent slab structure up to 6,000' (an ice bridge over the moat!) and above that, we did not find reactive weak layers in tests.  Felt comfortable in steep, open slopes today.