Vail & Summit County

You can trigger a deadly avalanche on most slopes. Many observers have reported triggering avalanches over 100 yards away on ridges or flat ground. You may not get any warning signs before triggering a very large avalanche. The most deadly slopes will be steep slopes where winds have drifted snow into thicker slabs, but the easiest slopes to trigger will be in shallow rocky terrain or areas that previously slid. This makes safe travel difficult, so give slopes steeper than 30 degrees a wide birth.