Northern San Juan

Recent snowfall with high winds has overburdened a fragile snowpack. You can trigger avalanches on many slopes at all elevations. The most dangerous slopes are at upper elevations where dense, cohesive slabs of snow have formed over widespread weak layers. Avalanches here could break deeper and wider than expected, and you can trigger them from a distance. Safe travel requires giving many slopes steeper than about 30 degrees wide buffers.

Cracking and collapsing are signs of an unstable slope and an indication to move to lower-angle terrain. Be aware that you may not observe these signs of instability before triggering an avalanche.