Grand Mesa

You can trigger an avalanche on steep slopes that face west through north to southeast where slabs of snow around 2 or 3 feet thick rest on weak, cohesionless snow and weak crusts. On big, sustained steep slopes these avalanches can grow large enough to bury you. On smaller slopes, like slope cuts above a snowmobile trail, avalanches will be smaller but can be dangerous if a small avalanche takes you into a terrain trap such as a creek, a cliff, or dense trees below you. You can reduce your chances of being injured or worse in an avalanche by avoiding travel on large, steep slopes on aspects of concern and identifying and avoiding terrain traps if you are traveling on any slopes steeper than about 30 degrees.