The good folks over at The Colorado Avalanche Information Center were up checking out the snowpack in Vail and Summit County and even with moderate to low danger levels, to avoid any wind-loaded slope, especially those that face north, northeast, and east: screen-shot-2016-12-06-at-7-46-13-am

Summary

Light snowfall Saturday and drifting snow from strong winds over the last few days is adding a small incremental load onto the slopes where you are most likely to trigger an avalanche today: north and east-facing slopes near and above treeline. Recent winds drifted snow well down slope into the near treeline elevation band.  Recently triggered avalanchesreports of collapsing and shooting cracks 2 to 3 feet deep are clear evidence that triggering an avalanche is possible today. Any avalanche that is triggered will be capable of causing injury and may be large enough to bury a person. You can trigger these avalanches from a distance or from below, so you need to be aware of slopes above you and locally connected steeper terrain, even if you’re on lower angle slopes that don’t seem like avalanche terrain.

You can get more details on the Forecast Discussion tab of the Vail and Summit County zone forecast page at colorado.gov/avalanchescreen-shot-2016-12-06-at-7-57-32-am

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