I observed some recent avalanches in drifted snow thanks to recent intense winds with ample snow available for transport. It looked like two of these stepped down into buried weak layers. I dug on an above treeline, southwest-facing slope to get an idea of why several similar slopes had recent natural avalanches. Where I dug confirmed the stubborn Persistent Slab avalanche problem that we've been seeing on other aspects/elevations. I found a weak layer at the interface of the slab formed in late December through January and the basal facet layer. Below treeline is losing that slab in some places and it's less continuous across the terrain than it was 2 weeks ago. I think you could still find a problematic slope, but they're becoming more isolated in the terrain.

Tiptop and Morgan Peaks near the town of Montezuma.

I parked at the Peru Creek trailhead and ascended the northwest ridge of Tiptop Peak. From there I followed the ridge east towards Morgan Peak. I descended northerly-facing slopes down to Peru Creek Road and followed the road back to the trailhead.

Below treeline, the snowpack was generally supportable to ski travel, but in some places, I still fell deeply into the snowpack. Boot penetration was almost to the ground everywhere. Near and above treeline, a slab in the upper snowpack was supportable to foot travel and penetration was only about 1.5 feet where the surface was soft and much less where there was a dense slab at the surface. I didn't observe any cracking or collapsing on my tour, but I saw lots of recent cornice fall due to strong northerly winds. I also saw four recent avalanches. Two of these looked like Wind Slab avalanches that were likely triggered by cornice fall. The other two were just below ridges and also likely triggered by cornice fall, but these had deeper debris piles and it looked like the slides stepped down into deeper weak layers. I wasn't able to get close enough to definitively say what the triggers were or what the bed surface was. Strong winds in the morning had eased by the time I got to the ridge. The slides likely ran sometime in the past 24 hours. I dug a snowpit on a southwest-facing above treeline slope. The snowpack was just over 1 meter deep with a thick slab from late December through January comprising the top half. Immediately below that layer was a decomposing melt-freeze crust with large facets underneath. This was the most concerning interface. I had a propagating result in an Extended Column Test (ECT) after blows from the shoulder and propagation to the end of the block after a cut of 35cm in a Propagation Saw Test (PST). Below this interface, there was faceted snow down to the ground and an additional decomposing crust. These results suggest that high-elevation, southwest-facing slopes have the same stubborn Persistent Slab avalanche problem that we're seeing on other slopes. An extended sunny and warm period might change this, but for the immediate future, you should avoid steep slopes on this aspect. Some recent avalanche activity on similar slopes confirms this. Steeper, or lower elevation southwest-facing slopes might have thicker and more supportable crust layers which could affect the overall stability, but I'd say guilty until proven innocent at this point.

I also dug a snowpit on a northeast-facing slope at the upper end of the below treeline elevation band. Directly above this pit location, close to the ridgeline, there was a thin, dense slab on the surface that broke as I skied through it, but suggests the wind affected the snow even at middle and lower elevations. Where I dug my snowpit, this surface layer wasn't present. There was an old avalanche crown a few feet below where I dug. That slide appeared to have run on the December Drought layer but the crown and bed surface were obscured by more recent snowfall, suggesting the slide was at least a week old if not more. There was also a deep debris pile in the track of the avalanche path near my pit location. Again, this slide looked like it was at least a week old and likely older. My snowpit here was unremarkable. I was able to identify the bed surface of the old avalanche directly below my pit, but I didn't get any results in snowpit tests. The snowpit profile showed a right-side-up snowpack with one-finger hard snow near the ground becoming progressively softer as it neared the surface. There was a slight density change where I would expect to find the December Drought layer. I got no result in an ECT and when I pulled on the column with my shovel after the test it broke at the ground. Where I dug this pit, the snow was supportable to skis (not to boots), but in some areas nearby the snowpack was weak throughout and less supportable. In this it area, it seemed like you could find places with concerning structure, but they weren't exceptionally continuous across the terrain anymore.

Clear skies ended up with scattered high clouds by midday. Subzero temperatures warmed into the teens by late afternoon.