Aspen

We are in a tricky period with dangerous buried weak layers on many slopes facing the north half of the compass and wet snow problems on the south half of the compass. The most dangerous slopes, where you can trigger an unsurvivable avalanche, face northwest through north to east generally above 10,000 feet. Here, you can travel across a slope many times before triggering an avalanche, so don’t take tracks on a slope as an indicator that the slope is safe, and you can trigger it from a distance so be aware of steep slopes above you. There is no great way to reduce your chances of triggering an avalanche on these slopes aside from just avoiding them.

Watch out for loose avalanches as the day warms up and sunny slopes start to feel wet. Most of these will be small but can still drag you down a slope. Give cornices an extra wide margin as well this week as things warm up.