Southern San Juan

Winter returns to the mountains after a week of warm, spring-like weather. You could trigger an avalanche where winds have loaded northwest to north through east slopes with new snow. You can find wind-loaded slopes below ridges and on the edges of gullies. The surface snow of wind-loaded areas often transitions from soft to stiff or has a smooth pillow-like appearance. Move to a different slope or lower-angle terrain if you see signs of instability like cracking in the new snow or recent avalanche activity on similar slopes.

Triggering an avalanche that breaks in deeper weak layers is unlikely. However, if you choose to travel in larger, higher-consequence terrain, you may trigger an avalanche if you find a shallow area on a steep slope. Small avalanches triggered in the new snow can also prove more consequential in larger terrain and could step down to buried weak layers if you find the right spot in the wrong area.