Vail & Summit County

Continued snow and increased winds on Wednesday night built dense slabs of drifted snow. Shifting wind directions the past two days mean you can find drifted snow on northwest through east to south-facing slopes. Drifted slopes are dangerous not just because of the new drifted snow, but because collapsible weak layers are buried 1 to 2 feet in the snowpack. Any slide in the new snow can step down to deeper layers. Avalanches breaking on these layers are less predictable and likely to grow large enough to bury you.

Avoid steep slopes where you see bulbous pillows of recently drifted snow, or observe shooting cracks in the snow. More snow on Friday keeps the danger elevated.