Purple Ridge

3 to 7 inches of recent storm snow went a long way and greatly improved riding conditions.  There is clear evidence of drifting around the range at upper elevations, but we did not encounter any sensitive drifts where we traveled.  You can probably find a sensitive drift on a well-drifted feature at upper elevations.  The snowpack on the north half of the compass remains weak and troublesome below the recent storm snow, but we generally lack a slab to cause a problem outside of an isolated feature where winds drifted enough recent snow. 

Numerous very small, natural Dry Loose avalanches in very steep terrain. Glassing around the range, we did not see any slab avalanches.

New snow ranged up to 7 inches at the top of Purple Ridge to an inch or two near the trailhead .  A handful of hasty profiles showed a weak snowpack beneath the recent snowstorm on northerly slopes.  Low-elevation northerlies had a soft crust from previous warm weather.  Easterly slopes showed a supportive melt/freeze crust below the storm snow to an elevation around 11,400 feet (see profile).  Above that elevation, the crust became breakable and could collapse under a large new slab.  There is not enough new snow in sheltered terrain to form a new slab avalanche problem, although the snowpack structure remains highly faceted.  Sunny terrain features below about 11,000 feet became moist by the afternoon.

We encountered some shallow soft slabs below the ridge top near and above treeline.  In this location, it did not cause any cracking or collapsing.  The recent drifting quickly tapered off below the ridge top.  Other places in the Ruby Range clearly experienced stronger winds with notable wind effects above treeline.  I suspect there are stiffer, larger drifts out there, but we didn't encounter one.