Southern San Juan

You could trigger an avalanche where you find 8 inches or more of new or drifted snow on slopes steeper than around 35 degrees. The most dangerous slopes face the north half of the compass, where very weak snow lurks under the new snow. Westerly winds on Friday build deeper and stiffer snow drifts on leeward east-facing slopes, especially below ridgelines and in cross-loaded terrain features. 

Cracking in the snow surface, collapsing or “whumfing”, and easily-triggered loose avalanches are all signs of instability and indicate you should retreat to lower-angled slopes. Avalanche conditions are the most dangerous we’ve seen in a month.