Southern San Juan

Snowfall on Monday will create increasing avalanche danger as the day progresses. You can trigger an avalanche which breaks at the storm snow interface or which breaks on weak layers which formed in the last month and lurk in the upper four feet of the snowpack. You can trigger a deeply-breaking avalanche in an area where the snowpack is shallower- less than about five feet deep. Backcountry riders triggered a 6-foot-deep avalanche near Ironton Park on Saturday. Evaluate for sensitive combinations of crusts and dry snow layers underneath the storm snow before committing to steep terrain. Use extra caution anywhere you encounter about ten inches or more of new or drifted snow. Below-treeline areas and slopes under about thirty degrees offer safer options.

A pair of recent accidents highlight the consequence of triggering a large avalanche. On Friday, three backcountry skiers triggered and were caught in a large avalanche near Marble. Sadly one died. You can read the preliminary report here. Search and rescue operations remain underway for another accident Sunday afternoon in Maroon Bowl, near Aspen Highlands.