Northern San Juan

You can trigger both loose and slab avalanches in fresh drifts of snow. The most dangerous slopes are at upper elevations, where you find 8 inches or more of drifted snow forming a slab. Look for and avoid fresh, firm, lens-shaped drifts. Cracking in the snow surface is a sign that the new snow is stiffening and a good indication to avoid steep slopes. Most of the avalanches you trigger will be in the newly drifted snow from the past week, but a natural avalanche on Red 2 that stepped to ground should give you pause to step into steep, loaded open terrain.

Travel in the backcountry so far this season has been relatively uneventful, but things have changed with incremental loading events over the past week. The travel techniques from last week are no longer suitable for this weekend.

Safer travel can be found in lower-elevation areas protected from the wind.