Grand Mesa

The most dangerous slopes are primarily confined to the lee sides of ridgelines at high elevations. Here, new snow combined with strong winds created thin, hard slabs of snow on top of the old snow surface. You can find safer travel options by avoiding wind-loaded terrain features such as cornices and the lee sides of a ridge

You can also trigger a smaller loose avalanche in wet snow on sunny slopes as the snow surface begins to melt. While most of these avalanches will be small they can be dangerous if they knock you over and drag you off a cliff or into a creek or similar terrain trap. You can reduce your chances of being caught in a wet avalanche by avoiding sunny slopes when the snow surface feels wet and you start seeing rollerballs and small sluffs on steeper slopes often starting below trees or rocks.