Vail & Summit County

Avalanche conditions are most dangerous on recently wind-loaded northerly and east-facing slopes. On Wednesday and Thursday, another round of wind loading led to a large natural avalanches in the Tenmile Range and near Loveland Pass. You can still trigger large avalanches, especially where the slab is hard yet thinner, making it easier to affect weak layers buried in the snowpack.

Stick to southerly slopes with supportable melt-freeze crusts or low elevation slopes with a soft snowpack that you can poke a ski pole through to the ground.