Steamboat & Flat Tops

A weak layer of surface hoar is buried 1 to 2 feet deep in the Park Range. You can also find faceting around crusts from December a bit deeper. You can trigger an avalanche on these layers large enough to bury you. Look out for these layers on steep northwest through northeast to east-facing slopes, especially in open meadows and slopes directly below ridgetop.

You can also trigger slides in recently drifted snow, too. Any avalanche has the potential to gouge down to deeper layers and grow larger. Take care where you find more than about 6 inches of drifted snow on the east half of the compass. Cracking in the new snow is a sign to avoid similar steep slopes.