Northern San Juan

You can trigger an avalanche in wind-drifted surface snow which breaks into a deeper, more dangerous slide. Identify wind-drifted areas by fresh cornice growth, or smooth, pillowed features. Avoid places where the snow cover thins, such as rocky areas, convexities, or gully edges, where you may be able to impact deeper weak layers and trigger a more dangerous avalanche. You can always avoid avalanches by sticking to slopes less than about thirty degrees steepness without steep terrain above.