Vail & Summit County

A Special Avalanche Advisory is in effect for areas around the Gore Range. Though slowly decreasing, the avalanche danger remains elevated after a potent storm created very dangerous avalanche conditions. You can easily trigger avalanches large enough to bury you and some may grow very large in size.

You can trigger an avalanche on easterly-facing slopes at all elevations. The most dangerous slopes are at upper elevations where strong winds on Saturday drifted recent snow into cohesive slabs that rest on weak layers buried two to four feet deep. Cornice failures and slides within the new snow can trigger larger avalanches that break on these more deeply buried weak layers becoming more dangerous. Signs of instability such as cracking and collapsing may not be present before a deeper avalanche breaks around you. Stick to slopes less than about 30 degrees at lower elevations as a safer travel option.