Vail & Summit County

On almost all aspects and elevations, you can trigger an avalanche that is large enough to bury and kill you. Riders have been triggering avalanches from a distance and below. Slopes with shallower snow will be the easiest slopes to trigger an avalanche, but deeper wind-drifted slopes will produce the deadliest slide. To avoid this tricky mix, stick to slopes less than 30 degrees far from steeper slopes. Below treeline wind-sheltered terrain offers safer travel.