Northern San Juan

The most dangerous areas are wind-loaded slopes near and above the treeline. There you can find a thick slab of cohesive snow on top of weaker snow layers. On easterly-facing slopes where you find more than about 10 inches of wind-drifted snow, avalanches have the potential to grow larger in size. Pay attention to the direction a slope faces and steer around places with a smooth, rounded snow surface or where the snow feels hard underfoot. You can decrease your chances of triggering a larger, more dangerous avalanche by avoiding steep, wind-loaded slopes near ridgelines, below cornices, or on sidewalls of gullies.