Northern San Juan

On most steep slopes, slabs of cohesive snow sit above older, weaker snow and where you can trigger an avalanche large enough to bury or injure you. Triggering a smaller avalanche near the surface could provoke a larger slide that breaks deeper into weak snow layers near the ground and broader across slopes than you might expect. You are more likely to impact buried weak snow and trigger a slide near slab margins or around rocky outcrops where the snowpack is shallower. Give yourself an extra buffer traveling below or adjacent to bigger terrain and heed the warning signs of cracking and audible collapses. You can stick to slopes around 30 degrees without steeper slopes overhead for safer travel options.