Northern San Juan

On most steep slopes, slabs of cohesive snow sit on top of older, weaker snow and where you can trigger an avalanche large enough to bury or injure you. Triggering a smaller avalanche in the recent storm snow could provoke a larger slide that breaks wider and deeper into weak snow layers near the ground. You might trigger an avalanche from below a slope, or from a distance, so give yourself an extra wide buffer traveling around bigger terrain. Heed the warning signs of cracking and audible collapses, and stick to slopes around 30 degrees without steeper slopes overhead for safer travel options.