Southern San Juan

You could trigger an avalanche where you find a shallow spot in the slab on a steep slope. The most dangerous slopes face the north half of the compass at upper elevations.

Choose low-angle planar slopes and avoid likely trigger points, like the thinner margins of a slab, convex rollovers, and shallowly buried rocks.

On March 7th, a backcountry skier was caught and killed in an avalanche near Vail Pass. The avalanche released on a northeast-facing slope near treeline, about 2-3 feet deep. Our deepest condolences to the deceased skier's family, friends, and community. You can read the preliminary accident report here.