Vail & Summit County

You can trigger an avalanche on slopes where you find more than 8 inches of new or wind-drifted snow that is poorly bonded to the firm surface below. You are most likely to find firm pillows of snow below ridgelines and along gullies. The old snow surface is very dirty and these new drifts will be clean and white. Avoid steep slopes where you see cracking and collapsing in the surface snow. You can find safer travel on slopes without drifting.