Vail & Summit County

You can trigger a large avalanche on west through east to south-facing slopes. If you trigger a small slide it can easily break into weak layers near the ground and create a wide and long-running avalanche. Look for and avoid smooth, bulbous pillows of snow below ridgelines, in cross-loaded gullies, and downhill of convex rollovers. Also, avoid shallow areas of a slope, like near exposed rocks, bushes, or grass. Slopes less than about 30 degrees without larger and steeper terrain above offer safer riding options.