Vail & Summit County

You can trigger an avalanche on north through east to southeast facing slopes at upper elevations. The most dangerous slopes are where snow has drifted on top of weak layers buried two to four feet deep. Small avalanches within the new snow could create enough mass to step down into the buried weak layers, creating a much larger and more dangerous avalanche. Cracking and collapsing in the recently drifted snow are signs of instability, but they may not be present before a deeper avalanche breaks. Stick to slopes less than about 30 degrees at lower elevations for safer travel options.