Sangre de Cristo

Strong winds and light snow Sunday helped thicken stiff surface slabs at upper elevation. The deepest drifts are on northerly and easterly-facing slopes; avalanches on those slopes will be larger. You are more likely to trigger an avalanche near ridges, on steep rollovers, and in cross-loaded gullies around 35 degrees in steepness. Strong gusts may have formed problematic drifts in unusual places or lower down the slope. Avoid traveling where the snow surface looks smooth and pillow-like, and adjust your travels if you see cracking in the snow. Snow on Monday may obscure wind-effected surfaces making them harder to identify.

Avalanche that break deeper in older, weak snow layers has become less likely, but still a lingering potential where the snowpack is less than about 4 feet deep. These low-probability avalanches will be more consequential if you get knocked off your feet in complex terrain or above terrain traps. Shallow places on steeper slopes near rock outcrops and in wind-exposed areas increase the step-down potential.