Storm instabilities in the Canyon

A foot of very low-density snow overnight and a touch of winds spurred a round of loose dry and soft slab avalanches in Canyon Creek sometime this morning or before dawn.

• Numerous skier triggered and natural D1 to D1.5 sluffs in steep terrain.  In terrain where the slope angles eased gradually, the debris fanned out harmlessly.  In sharp transitions, near tree wells, and on road cuts, the debris piled up deeply enough to bury someone.  The sluffs entrained the top 15" of snow or so.  
• In areas where winds had touched the snow, we observed 4 soft slabs that all failed about a foot deep.  Patrol reported similar results in their mitigation routes.  One of these stepped down to older snow layers and produced a D2. The rest were D1.5 or smaller.  
• In wind sheltered areas, we skied steep terrain using sluff management techniques.  We were extra careful around trees and treewells, and avoided long-running terrain where sluffs could grow large in size.   We also avoided consequential steep terrain where winds had stiffened the snow.  
• Tree wells and deep snow submersion are serious concerns right now, even in low angle terrain.