Steamboat & Flat Tops

You can trigger a dangerous avalanche on steep west through north to easterly-facing slopes. You can easily trigger avalanches around a foot deep in the recent storm snow. Some avalanches can break into weak layers buried two to four feet deep, producing much larger and more dangerous avalanches. You can affect the snow in shallower areas near protruding rocks, trees, and at the bottom of convex slopes. These avalanches can be released from a distance or below, so give yourself a wide margin around any steep slopes. If you see signs of unstable snow like cracking or collapsing, move to slopes less than about 30 degrees that are not connected to larger, steeper slopes above.