Avalanches most often occur on slopes steeper than 30 degrees.

So the first thing you need to figure out is whether you are in avalanche terrain or not; in other words, is the terrain steep enough to avalanche?

And the best way to determine whether the terrain is steep enough to avalanche is to actually measure it with a slope meter or inclinometer. See photo at right.

Learning to recognize avalanche terrain is the first and most important step in avalanche hazard evaluation.

Slopes less steep than about about 30 degrees are so low angle that they rarely avalanche.

However, slopes steeper than about 30 degrees and especially slopes steeper than about 35 degrees can and often do avalanche.

For advanced riders, some of the best snowmobiling is in avalanche terrain. Today's powerful machines allow riders to easily climb hills much steeper than 30 degrees.

But just because the slope is steep enough to avalanche doesn't mean that it will; the snow must also be unstable.  So click on snowpack and find out how to determine whether a snowpack is liable to avalanche.

Next Section: Snowpack »