Vail & Summit County

You can trigger a large avalanche on west through east to south-facing slopes at all elevations. You are most likely to trigger a large avalanche from a shallower area of a slope. Avoid areas on a slope with exposed rocks, bushes, or grass. You may be able to trigger a small slide near the surface in recently wind-drifted snow as well. If you do, it can easily break into the deeply buried weak layers near the ground and cause a wide and far-running avalanche. Look for and avoid smooth, bulbous pillows of snow below ridgelines, in cross-loaded gullies, and downhill of convex rollovers. If you are unsure how deep the snowpack is you can always stick to slopes less than about 30 degrees with no steep slopes above for safer backcountry travel.