Vail & Summit County Backcountry Avalanche Forecast Mon, Mar 22, 2021 at 7:11 AM Issued by: Spencer Logan Archive - Expired !! Avalanche Danger Monday and Tuesday At and Above Treeline: Moderate (2) Heightened avalanche conditions on specific terrain features. Evaluate snow and terrain carefully. Below Treeline: Low (1) Generally safe avalanche conditions. Watch for unstable snow on isolated terrain features. Summary New snow and wind have added the potential for you to trigger small avalanches. You can trigger avalanches on steep, north to east-facing slopes where you find freshly drifted snow. You may see shooting cracks and a find a generally stiffer feel to the surface snow. Although avalanches in the new snow will not be particular large, they can knock you off of your feet and take you for a dangerous ride. If you are traveling areas with a shallow snowpack, less than about three feet of snow, there is still a chance you can trigger an avalanche that breaks at the ground. Very steep, rocky, slopes with stiff layers in the middle of the snowpack are the most suspect. Avalanche Problem Wind Slab N -> E At and Above Treeline Possible Small What You Need to Know About These Avalanches Wind Slab avalanches release naturally during wind events and can be triggered for up to a week after a wind event. They form in lee and cross-loaded terrain features. Avoid them by sticking to wind sheltered or wind scoured areas. Avalanche Problem Persistent Slab At and Above Treeline, all aspects except S-SW Unlikely Small to Large What You Need to Know About These Avalanches Persistent Slab avalanches can be triggered days to weeks after the last storm. They often propagate across and beyond terrain features that would otherwise confine Wind and Storm Slab avalanches. In some cases they can be triggered remotely, from low-angle terrain or adjacent slopes. Give yourself a wide safety buffer to address the uncertainty. Forecast Discussion Showing Archive Mon, Mar 22, 2021 at 8:03 AM Issued by: Spencer Logan Statewide Weather Forecast New snow adds a new avalanche issue. Across the Northern Mountains, winds have drafted the snow into small, shallow pockets of wind slabs. Over the weekend observers triggered numerous small, shallow avalanches. Look for, and avoid, drifted snow below ridgelines, rollovers, or around terrain features. In complicated, very steep terrain the drifting pattern may be complex. The snow may have a smooth, pillow-like shape or a rippled texture. It may feel chalky or brittle, and you might see shooting cracks. Small, shallow avalanche can still take you for a ride, and it could be nasty if you are flushed down a gully or over cliffs. In the Front Range, the new snow amounts are deep enough to cause issues on steep, wind-sheltered slopes too. You will be able to trigger small avalanches on steep slopes where you find more than about eight inches of new snow. Storm slab avalanches can be deceptively soft. The snow may not give you many clues, other than depth, before it avalanches. You can dig through the new snow and see how well it has bonded to the old snow, and look for weaknesses and differences in layering. Otherwise, watch our slope angles and steer around spots steeper than about 35 degrees. The new snow keeps the old avalanche issue going. Layers of weak snow deep in the snowpack may be hibernating, but they have not gone away. Occasional large or deep avalanches serve as a reminder of their presence. These deep layers are most problematic in areas with a shallow snowpack--about three feet total. While regions of shallow snow are the most obvious, shallow spots are also worth considering on big slopes. The shallow spots can be hard to pick out in advance, so sticking to lower angle terrain is the simplest solution.