Steamboat & Flat Tops

You can trigger an avalanche 1 to 3 feet deep from a distance and from below. Some could break near the ground. The most dangerous slopes face west through north to east, but you can trigger an avalanche on drifted southerly slopes as well. Rocky, steep, shady slopes with variable snow cover are the most likely places to trigger a deeper avalanche. Drifting from recent wind and snow made these avalanches more likely this weekend.

You can trigger small slides in the recently drifted snow, too. These slabs will look rounded and smooth and may crack beneath you. Avoid pillows of drifted snow where you see them on steep slopes below ridges and behind convex rollovers. If you trigger an avalanche in surface snow, it will likely break into deeper weak layers buried near the ground.

Wind-sheltered slopes and slopes less than about 30 degrees offer safer riding.