Mellow treeline terrain will be your best bet for good skiing right now. Avoid big alpine features right now.
Avalanche Summary
Some loose dry avalanches from yesterday's storm were evident as the light improved. Of note, there was one sz 2.5 slab avalanche on Mount Buller. NE aspect, 2200m. It started in the alpine on what appeared to be the Nov 26 crust. As it traveled, it pulled out the gully sidewalls and ran quite far.
Snowpack Summary
Lots of tricky layers out there at the moment. At first they seem confusing, but thinking of them from an elevation perspective helps. They are all on our radar as problems and they all have potential to produce large avalanches. Here's the run down:Alpine- We have the Dec 15th facet layer as the main trouble maker and some surface windslabs that are lingering. The 15th layer is down 80-120cm and has been responsible for several slides in the last week.Treeline- The Dec 15, Jan 6th surface hoar layer, Jan 18th surface hoar layer are all present. They are down about 85, 65 & 45cm respectively. Some avalanches have been noted on the 6th, and tests show failures on all 3 layers.Below Treeline- Basically the same as treeline, but a lack of snow load and/or a slab property above the layers prevents them from being as big a problem. The ski quality is actually quite good in mellow, treeline terrain. Alpine features have been windloaded and look plump at the moment.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.