Grand Mesa

You might trigger an avalanche where you find more than a foot of recent snow. Expect deeper and more dangerous avalanches at higher elevations, and in open terrain features where shifting winds build dense drifts below corniced ridgelines and in gullies. Avoid slopes steeper than about 35 degrees where you find more than about a foot of freshly deposited snow. Cracking in the new snow is a sign to move to lower-angle slopes or wind-sheltered terrain.