Vail & Summit County

An Avalanche Watch is in effect for the Gore Range and Holy Cross Wilderness. Heavy snow and strong winds will create very dangerous avalanche conditions during the day on Tuesday, lasting through Wednesday morning. Avalanches will break wide across terrain features and run long distances. Many will run naturally. Travel in, near, or under avalanche terrain is not recommended on Tuesday.

On Monday, shallow slopes that face from west through to southeast are the most dangerous. Before you trigger a large slide, you are unlikely to get any warnings from the snowpack, like cracking or collapsing. Observers have reported many sets of tracks on slopes before riders find weak areas. Stay away from pillows of rounded snow where winds have drifted snow. If you trigger an avalanche in the surface it is likely to step down to deeper weak layers. It is very difficult to assess where you can trigger a slide right now so consider sticking to slopes less than about 30 degrees.