Northern San Juan

The avalanche danger is slowly easing, but you can still trigger a large, dangerous slide on northerly and east-facing slopes near and above treeline. On those slopes, cohesive slabs of snow rests on top of fragile snow layers near the ground. Triggering an avalanche on a wind-loaded slopes may break wider than you expect, and take the entire season’s snowpack with it. Place extra room between you and suspect slopes above as you can trigger an avalanche from below a slope or from a distance. Shooting cracks and audible collapses suggest moving to southerly-facing slopes or slopes less than about 30 degrees without overhead hazards for safer travel options.