Because it is so deep!

Day off snowmobile ride up McGinnis to play in some low-angle terrain at low elevations. New snow depths on the road averaged around 2 feet, though we never really stopped to measure. Certainly over the hood! 

• Observed small naturals on steep cut banks on our route up. These were soft storm slabs 8 to 12 inches thick. 
• During a few breaks with the machines off, we heard loud whumpfing collapses. We talked to two other riders who heard the same further down in elevation. 
• We were able to initiate shooting cracks from our machines and able to trigger small slabs while side-hilling road cuts. 
• Wind was transporting snow into thicker slabs at roughly 4900 feet on a saddle between two ridges. 
• Driving the north fork road back we observed a few 8 to 12-inch soft slabs above the road. Some propagated up to 50 feet wide. I didn't recall seeing these on the way up.
• Precipitation remained heavy throughout the day. Temperatures climbed through the morning. We were both soaked by the time we got back at 1200. 

All the signs were there to stay off of and out from underneath avalanche terrain. We both agreed that slopes above 30 degrees were out for today. We even felt uneasy about being underneath a slope that probably averaged 28 degrees in steepness.