Grand Mesa

You can trigger an avalanche on northerly and easterly-facing slopes where firm slabs rest over weak snow. The most dangerous slopes are above and near treeline but any slope with this structure could be suspect. Examples could be open, sparsely treed areas with evidence of wind loading like smoothly rounded pillows. Cracking and collapsing may not be present before a large avalanche breaks. It is still possible to trigger slides from a distance so give runout areas below steep slopes extra space.

You can find safer travel on terrain less than about 30 degrees that does not connect to steeper slopes and in areas without a buried weak layer.