Sawatch

Identify and avoid wind-drifted slopes at upper elevations to decrease your chances of being caught in a slab avalanche. If the snow feels hard and hollow, then you are likely on a wind-drifted slope and should stick to low-angle terrain. You can find safer travel options in wind-sheltered terrain where your feet or skis sink through the snow at least to your boot tops or your knees.

You can push loose avalanches on many slopes approaching 40 degrees. Expect dry sluffs where you find weak, dry, cohesionless snow. Expect wet ones on sun-warmed slopes later in the day.