Vail & Summit County

A Special Avalanche Advisory is in effect from 4:30PM Friday to 5PM Sunday. Backcountry avalanche conditions are dangerous. You can easily trigger an avalanche large enough to injure or kill you on many steep slopes. You may not see obvious signs of instability, like cracking or collapsing in the snow, before triggering an avalanche. You can trigger an avalanche from far away or in flat areas below steep slopes. When dealing with remotely triggered avalanches, be aware of other parties nearby and steep slopes above you, even if you are in gentle or flat terrain. Safe backcountry travel this weekend means giving most slopes steeper than about 30 degrees a wide berth.

On Saturday, a backcountry traveler on the ridge near Peak 1 remotely triggered a large, potentially deadly avalanche on the northeast face. These conditions are widespread throughout this zone. We haven't seen remote triggers like this in a long time.