Steamboat & Flat Tops

You can easily trigger an avalanche on slopes where you find more than about 8 inches of new or wind-drifted snow. You may see cracks in the surface snow, warning that you have found a slab. Slabs may be firm where winds have drifted snow, but they can also be very soft. The avalanche you trigger at the surface could step down to deeper weak layers at the ground. If you experience cracking, head to slopes sheltered from the wind or lower-angle slopes.

You can still trigger avalanches on buried weak layers. This is most likely on steep slopes with shallow snow coverage. If trigger points like rocks, trees, and convex rolls litter a slope, this increases your likelihood of triggering a deeper avalanche. You will find safer travel on slopes with over 2 meters of firm snow and no buried weak layer.