Northern San Juan

You can trigger a large dangerous avalanche on northerly-facing slopes where recent storm snow sits on top of a weaker, older layer near the ground. Avoid travel on and under steep slopes in northerly-facing areas. If you trigger an avalanche on one of these slopes it will be large enough to bury you. You can trigger avalanches from the bottom of slopes, or from a distance, and slides may run farther than you expect. Cracking and audible collapsing are signs of unstable snow. If you experience these warning signs, move to less-steep or more wind-sheltered terrain. Slopes less than about 30 degrees without steep terrain overhead provide safer options.