Southern San Juan

A Special Avalanche Advisory is in effect for the southern San Juan Mountains from the La Plata Mountains eastward to Wolf Creek Pass, and areas surrounding Cumbres and La Manga Passes. Though slowly decreasing, the avalanche danger remains elevated after a potent storm created very dangerous avalanche conditions. You can easily trigger avalanches large enough to bury you and some may grow very large in size.

Dangerous, cohesive slabs of snow three to four feet thick exist on many slopes where you can trigger a large, deadly avalanche. Most slides will break in the new or drifted snow, but some may break in the middle or bottom of the snowpack, and in surprising ways. You may find deeper, wind-drifted areas that span multiple terrain features capable of producing long-running, destructive slides impacting valley bottoms and lower elevations. Avoid places where you see evidence of drifting like rounded snow pillows or where the snow surface is hard and sculpted beneath ridgelines, cornices, and steep sidewalls of gullies. If you see cracking in the snow or hear audible collapses, stick to low-angle slopes without steeper terrain overhead.