Old Avalanches and Stable Snow Down to the Carson Valley

We skied from near Centerville Peak down to the Carson Valley. Along the ridge, we observed small cornice formation with a West wind a light blowing snow. Skies were broken with occasional snow showers. Kicking off cornices on small test slopes did not trigger any wind-slabs below.  Starting at 9,000 ft, we skied a NE aspect with well-spaced large trees that averaged about 35-degrees slope angle. We did not observe any signs of instability or slab-like characteristics on our descent. The depth of new storm snow began to decrease considerably around 7,200 ft, but soft cold snow surfaces remained on all aspects until we reached 5,800ft, where the snow had begun to melt slightly. Most of the manzanita and sagebrush was covered in new snow. 

We observed debris from several old avalanches. All of the debris we saw was covered in a layer of new snow. One small debris pile looked to have been triggered by a cornice failure during the storm on an E aspect along the ridgeline. Other avalanche debris piles were observed from below, with most paths being quite steep and generally E/SE facing. 

Picture 1: Debris from a previous cornice failure during the storm that is partially covered by new snow.

Picture 2: Deep soft new snow did not show any signs of instability or slab-like characteristics. Signs of settlement were noted around some trees. 

Picture 3: A highlighted view of old avalanche debris piles and their associated slide paths that we observed from below. We did not ski those slopes.

Picture 4: Snow coverage near 5,400ft.