Steamboat & Flat Tops

You can trigger an avalanche in recently fallen snow large enough to bury you. The most dangerous slopes are steep, drifted, and easterly-facing, but you can trigger an avalanche on many slopes. Be cautious where you find more than a foot of recent or drifted snow on steep slopes below ridgelines, in gullies, or on convex rollovers. Shooting cracks or collapses in drifted snow are a sign of instability and an indication you could trigger an avalanche. If you trigger an avalanche in the surface snow, it may step down to more deeply buried weak layers from February. Look for safer riding on wind-sheltered slopes or slopes less than 30 degrees.