This season the western U.S. is especially prone to one of the worst layers for wet slabs—depth hoar. Depth hoar are large grains of sugary snow found near the ground that do not bond strongly to each ...

For winter sports enthusiasts, this year’s snowpack has proven less than ideal. Summit County’s first few inches of backcountry snow, typically the first of many quick-falling layers, were instead ...

On the afternoon of Feb. 1, seven friends set out on skis from the Opus Hut, a backcountry lodge located high in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. The sky was blue, the temperatures relatively warm, and ...