Deep Creek Ridge

3 to 5 inches of heavy new snow greeted us at the Deep Creek Trailhead. The snow quickly got lighter, colder, and deeper as we climbed the ridge. By the time we reached 7000 ft on the Deep Creek Ridge, 4 to 7 inches of soft light snow existed on top of the previous storm snow. 

Numerous cornices were sticking out over the NW-N-NE facing slopes along the ridge. These broke easily when we kicked them, and we knocked several oven-size cornice pieces onto leeward-facing slopes. None of these cornice pieces triggered cracking or wind slab failures on the preciously wind-loaded slopes. They did entrain the new snow and cause small, dry, loose snow sluffs. The fresh snow remained light and cold through the morning above 7200 ft. During the brief periods of sun in the afternoon, it warmed up quickly at all elevations. Below 7200 ft, we found heavier wet snow. 

We saw several old storm slab avalanches and a small, mostly buried wind slab that occurred on Feb 4. Today, we could still break cornices with ski kicks, but they only caused small sluffs of loose, dry snow on the slopes below.