Southern San Juan

You can trigger an avalanche on steep slopes where cohesive slabs of snow sit above weaker snow. Avoid slopes with a highly variable snowpack depth or numerous potential trigger points like small trees, convexities, rocks, or cliffs. You can reduce your risk of triggering an avalanche by choosing terrain less than about 35 degrees steep.

Warm temperatures increase the potential for wet avalanches at all elevations. If you begin sinking into rapidly warming snow, move to a shady slope. Watch for overhead hazards beneath steep rocky terrain, as wet avalanches can originate from heated slopes overhead. Avoid this hazard by starting and ending your day early.

For visual impact, here's a montage of the last week's large avalanches from around the state.