Gunnison

Recent heavy snowfall has formed a cohesive slab on the old snow surface. You might trigger an avalanche on steep slopes that have over a foot of new snow that has not bonded well to the old surface. Most of these avalanches will be small but they can grow large enough to bury you on steep, sustained slopes or in areas where the wind has built deeper drifts. Cracking the new snow is a sign to move to lower-angle slopes.

You still might be able to trigger a slide on deeper buried weak layers that are three to four feet down. If you were to get caught in one of these avalanches it would likely be unsurvivable. Areas where the snowpack is thicker are more difficult to affect the weak layers, so avoid shallow spots near rocks and other obstacles. It is difficult to know how thick the snowpack is on a given slope so consider your terrain choices carefully. Safer travel options always exist by sticking to slopes less than about 30 degrees without steep slopes above you.