Northern San Juan

You could trigger a large avalanche where previous winds drifted snow into cohesive slabs near and above treeline. Avoid traveling near common trigger points, such as convex rollovers, rocky outcrops, or the edges of slopes where the margins of a slab are the thinnest. Give yourself a wide buffer from suspect slopes steeper than around 35 degrees. You could trigger an avalanche from below, and avalanches could break wider than you expect. You may not experience obvious signs of instability before triggering a dangerous avalanche.

Recent winds drifted snow onto lee slopes. Small slabs of wind-drifted snow are often found adjacent to ridgelines in concave features and on the edges of gullies. Avoid steep slopes if you see cracking in recently drifted snow.