Febru-buried

Automated weather stations near Marias Pass have reported 8-20" change in snow height in the past 48 hours. We went to see of they were accurate. 

• We found 5-7 inches of snow from the past few days. Snow showers today put down another 2-4". However, 1-3 feet of snow has accumulated above the 2/1 crust. 
• Gusty winds this morning were blowing snow from trees at mid elevations but not building drifts.
• We avoided being on slopes under large, overhanging cornices on the ridgeline.
• One large natural avalanche ran on a leeward, upper elevation slope early afternoon (image and avalanche tab).
• The few cornices we tested were fragile, releasing fridge- and sofa-sized chunks with just a couple of kicks. These only produced sluffs in the fresh snow on the slopes below.
• A snow profile on a mid-elevation, easterly slope showed about 3 feet of consolidating snow above the 2/1 crust. Tests produced no propagation or sudden failures in this snow or the snow immediately above and below the 2/1 crust. The 2/1 crust is buried 1-2 feet below about 6000 feet.
• Near ridges (~7000 ft), we found an 8-12" thick, hard (4F+ to 1F) wind slab below the fresh snow. This slab did not extend far down the slope. I suspect slabs would be thicker and wider in  more exposed leeward terrain several hundred feet higher.

We avoided steep slopes near and below the ridgeline, and skied steep slopes with no evidence of wind loading one at a time.