Vail & Summit County

You could trigger an avalanche on easterly-facing slopes at higher, more exposed elevations within the recently drifted snow. Look for and avoid slopes where you find a rounded snow surface that looks like a pillow, or you begin to feel a dense or stiff snow surface underneath you, especially below ridgelines, sides of gullies, or convex rollovers. Wind-sheltered slopes at lower elevations offer safer travel options.

On Saturday March 4th, we received the first report of a large avalanche breaking near the ground in weeks. This was in the northern Gore Range on a northeast-facing near treeline slope. Nobody was caught or injured, but this shows that, although unlikely, you can still trigger deeper and more dangerous avalanches. The only way to completely avoid these avalanches is to avoid steep slopes with weak layers near the ground.