Sangre de Cristo

Most slopes are generally safe from avalanches. The few places where you could trigger an avalanche would be where strong winds drifted snow into cohesive slabs at upper elevations, and that slab sits over cold, old, weak snow.

Drifted snow may look smooth or wave-like, and feel firm and hollow. Cracking in this type of firm snow indicates it is unstable and means you should move to lower-angled terrain. Safer travel can be found in wind-sheltered terrain.