Northern San Juan

Heavy snowfall and strong winds stacked dangerous slabs of snow onto a weak snowpack on northerly and east-facing slopes. The potential size of avalanche you can trigger is likely larger near and above treeline where new snow accumulations are around a foot or more. Triggering an avalanche in a wind-drifted area could break wider across the slope, deeply to the ground, and produce a more dangerous slide. Give steep, overhead slopes a wide buffer as avalanches may be triggered from below a slope or from a distance. Cracking in the snow surface, rumbling collapses, or recent avalanche activity are indicators of which slopes to avoid.

An avalanche below treeline might be smaller, but could result in an unforgiving ride over natural obstacles. Safest travel options exist on southerly-facing terrain or slopes less than about 30 degrees in steepness.