Aspen

Recent accidents in the Elk Range highlight the potential that you can trigger a large avalanche. Slopes with wind-drifted, stiffer slabs are the most dangerous, but you can trigger an avalanche even in wind-sheltered areas with a snowpack deeper than about three feet. Look for drifts of snow below ridgelines and in cross-loaded features. The slabs are thicker and avalanches will be larger at higher elevations. You can trigger a slide that breaks in the upper snowpack which might then release deeper, near the ground.

You can find safer travel options on wind-sheltered south and southwest slopes at lower elevations and by sticking to slopes less than about 30 degrees without steep slopes above you.