Grand Mesa

The day starts with generally safe avalanche conditions throughout the Central Mountains, but the snowpack at low elevations loses strength in the afternoon. In the morning, the few places you can trigger an avalanche are on wind-loaded slopes such as the lee side of a ridgeline at high elevations and on sunny slopes generally steeper than around 40 degrees later in the day. The easiest way to reduce your chances of being caught in an avalanche is to start and end your day early and avoid steep, wind-loaded slopes where the snow surface appears smooth and rounded.