Front Range

Avoid stiff wind-drifted slabs on steep slopes. You're most likely to find drifted snow and trigger an avalanche on open slopes directly below ridgelines that face an easterly direction or in a cross-loaded gully further downslope.

You might trigger a slab avalanche in high-elevation, rocky terrain with a shallow or highly variable snowpack depth. Wind-drifted northerly or easterly-facing slopes can produce large avalanches. You can choose slopes with a deeper, stronger, more continuous snowpack to reduce your odds of triggering one.

Start and end your day early to avoid triggering a small wet avalanche in the afternoon. As snow surfaces warm, cohesionless wet snow can slide on frozen crusts buried in the upper snowpack.