Vail & Summit County

Strong winds and heavy snow makes for rapidly changing conditions today. You can trigger a large avalanche on weak layers two to three feet deep. Areas where the wind has drifted snow will be the most dangerous. Cracking and collapsing in the storm snow is a sign of dangerous conditions, but if you trigger an avalanche in the new snow, it is likely to step down to deeper weak layers. The new covering of snow makes it even harder to find shallow weak spots where a deadly avalanche can be triggered. Multiple people can ride a slope before you trigger an avalanche. You can find safer riding on slopes less than about 30 degrees that are not exposed to steeper slopes above.