Southern San Juan

The most dangerous areas are wind-loaded slopes. Southwest winds drifted the new snow into thicker slabs on northerly and easterly-facing slopes. Strong and erratic winds built dangerous drifts lower in the terrain than usual, and on wide open slopes below the treeline. Avalanches in the new snow could break into weaker snow layers three to four feet deep on slopes facing west through north to east. Avoid areas where you see evidence of recent wind drifting such as fresh cornices, rounded pillows of snow, or a hard, sculpted snow surface. If you experience cracking or collapsing, retreat to slopes around 30 degrees that are sheltered from the wind.

With a plethora of fresh snow on sunny slopes, Saturday’s warm-up may trigger a shed cycle of the new snow from east through south to west-facing slopes during the day. Traveling on steeper slopes with about 8 inches of wet snow increases your chance to trigger a loose avalanche. Move to less steep slopes if you sink past your shins into wet snow or see fresh rollerball activity.