Steamboat & Flat Tops

You can find safer travel on slopes that are getting scoured by the wind and on low-angle slopes not connected to steeper terrain. Strong winds will move the new snow onto southerly and easterly aspects, creating new slabs of stiff snow. Look for and avoid rounded pillows of snow that may crack and collapse. The avalanche you trigger could stay in the surface snow, but there is a good chance it steps down to a weak layer two to four feet deep, creating a deadly avalanche. You could trigger an avalanche from a distance or below on this layer with little warning signs.

In more sheltered areas, new snow combined with a weak surface results in loose, dry avalanches that could gouge deeply. These will be small but could pile deeply into gullies or push you into a stand of trees.