Steamboat & Flat Tops

The avalanche danger increases dramatically as you move higher in elevation across the terrain. At the upper-most elevations you can easily trigger large and dangerous avalanches and some may release naturally. As you move down there will be less new snow and it will slowly become harder to trigger a slab avalanche large enough to bury you. Below around 9500 to 10,000 feet some areas will get rain and make it easy to trigger loose avalanches in the wet snow on sustained steep slopes. Conservative decision-making is essential. You can always reduce your chances of being caught in an avalanche by avoiding traveling on or under steep slopes facing northwest through north to east, and use some caution on very steep, sustained slopes where rain is falling on snow.