Steamboat & Flat Tops

Snow continues to accumulate on Thursday and you can trigger an avalanche on steep slopes where you find more than a foot of new snow. The most hazardous slopes are northerly and easterly-facing where you find firm drifted snow resting on weak layers buried two to three feet deep. If you trigger an avalanche it may only break near the surface, but if it breaks down into deeper weak layers it will grow larger and become more destructive. Cracking or collapsing in the new snow is a sign of instability, but you may not see any before you trigger an avalanche. Look for safer riding on slopes sheltered from the wind without a surface slab or on lower-angle slopes.