Northern San Juan

You could trigger a large avalanche that breaks deeper in the snowpack where previous winds stiffened snow into cohesive slabs on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. The most dangerous slopes face west through north to east, where very weak snow lurks beneath more recent snow. Recent northerly winds also drifted snow onto leeward slopes. Small slabs of wind-drifted snow are often found adjacent to ridgelines, in concave features, and on the edges of gullies. Avoid steep slopes if you see cracking in recently drifted snow.

You can reduce your chances of triggering an avalanche by avoiding traveling near common trigger points, such as convex rollovers, rocky outcrops, or the edges of slopes where the margins of a slab are the thinnest. Give yourself a wide buffer from suspect slopes steeper than around 35 degrees. You could trigger an avalanche from below, and avalanches could break wider than you expect. You may not experience obvious signs of instability before triggering a dangerous avalanche.