South aspects stabilize quicker under the influence of direct, warm sunlight, but are more prone to spring wet slides. South aspects often have less vegetation, fewer dense trees to anchor the snow and a shallower, crusty snow pack. Higher slopes tend to get more snow which favors stability, but they are more susceptible to wind and are colder, encouraging faceted crystal growth in continental snow packs . Lower slopes are warmer and stabilize faster after storms, but the shallower snow favors faceted crystal growth in continental snow packs . Certain locations pose a disproportionate avalanche hazard.
Examples are ravines, gullies, depressions and short, steep slopes.
Many avalanche accidents in the past involved slopes that had tracks on them already. Watch out for convexities that lure you from basically flat terrain onto an avalanche slope in just a few feet. Here, the snow is stretched over the bulge. Exposed rocks and trees interrupt the smooth flow of the snowpack downhill, creating stress points. They also cause faceting that leads to weaker spots in the slab.