Sawatch

You can trigger an avalanche on northerly and easterly-facing slopes near and above the treeline where you find a cohesive slab of snow about a foot thick resting on top of weak snow. On wind-loaded terrain features such as the lee side of a ridgeline or the inside of a gully or a couloir, these avalanches could grow large enough to bury you. For safer travel options stick to wind-sheltered slopes that lack a cohesive slab at the snow surface or sunny slopes that lack old, weak snow at the bottom of the snowpack.