Southern San Juan

You can trigger an avalanche on steep slopes where cohesive slabs of snow sit above weaker snow. Avoid slopes with highly variable snowpack depths or numerous trigger points like small trees, convexities, rocks, or cliffs. You can reduce your risk of triggering an avalanche by choosing terrain less than about 35 degrees steep.

Warm temperatures increase the potential for wet avalanches at all elevations. If you begin sinking into rapidly warming snow, move to a shady slope. Also, avoid being underneath steep rocky slopes during the heat of the day, as wet avalanches often originate from rocks and cliffs and gain mass as they move downhill. Reduce this problem by starting and ending your day early.