Sangre de Cristo

You can trigger an avalanche on steep slopes where wind-drifted surface snow forms a hard layer above less-cohesive layers below. Upper-elevation northerly and east-facing slopes are the most likely places to encounter this combination of stiff surface slabs and weak, early-season snow near the ground which is the recipe for avalanches. Avoid traveling near cornices along ridgelines or on slopes beneath large cornices. Slopes less than about thirty-five degrees provide safer options.

Move off steep slopes once you sink past your ankles into wet snow. Loose avalanches will be easy to trigger on very steep slopes once the snow surface is saturated. The soggy snow will follow the sun from east to south to west, and up in elevation with the warming temperatures.

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