Vail & Summit County

You can trigger an avalanche on most steep slopes, especially at upper elevations. Intense easterly winds distributed the most recent snow onto many slopes, some with a weak, thin snow cover. Most of these thinner slopes face a westerly direction, but be suspect of any slope with a recently developed slab resting on weak snow near the ground. On deeper slopes, slides continue to break on weak layers buried two to three feet deep. Either way, if you trigger a slide, it could propagate widely and result in a large avalanche. Multiple people could ride a slope before triggering an avalanche. Avoid steep slopes with bulbous pillows of new snow and stick to slopes less than about 30 degrees as safer travel options.

Above-freezing temperatures and sunshine will warm the snow surface. If you see rollerballs, fan-like point releases, or punch through to your boot top, move to low-angle slopes, shaded slopes with cold snow, or simply call it a day.