Steamboat & Flat Tops

You can easily trigger an avalanche anywhere you find more than 12 inches of snow on steep northerly and easterly-facing slopes. Look for and avoid cohesive slabs of drifted snow directly below ridgelines and convex rollovers or on the sides of gully features. Lens-shaped, bulbous pillows of snow or hollow-sounding drum-like snow are signs of recent drifting. Avalanche activity and cracking within the new snow are obvious signs of instability and an indication to move to wind-sheltered low-angle slopes for safer travel.