This avalanche problem is at the bottom of the snowpack.  Very large crystals with lots of open space between.  Imagine an entire layer of the snowack, 2"-6"or more of this crystal matrix and its weakness in supporting additional layers of snow becomes significant.  Where did these large crystals come from?  They are the evolution of regular snow flakes which fell out of the sky back in November (one of the coldest months of the year).  As these snow flakes accumulated on the ground, they formed the first snowpack of the season.  What cuased them to undergo such a dramatic change is due to extreme seasonal conditions generally only occuring at the beginning of winter; extra cold temperatures, extra shallow snow pack, and finally extra time enduring these conditions.  So how do we deal with this problem?  The bad news is this problem can remain for the entire winter until Springtime melts the snow and the only way to effectively rid ourselves of this weak layer is by avalanches!