Do not make any climbs where your incline is over thirty degrees. Avoid the north sides of any slopes. Most recorded avalanches have been noted occuring on north sides of steep terrain in winter months. In spring months the opposite is true and most recorded avalanches have been noted on the south slopes. Although this data has been distributed and relied upon, the fact is in winter months avalanches can occur in the most unexpected places.
Slopes containing any deep snowpak can be unstable.
If you are in an earthquake area any shifting of the ground can contribute to avalanche conditions also. The Earth is constantly contracting and expanding also and in this instance combined with a small tremor can lead to an avalanche also. One sign of instability is overnight temperatures that stay above freezing. Another contributing factor which should be watched is any rainfall in the area along with higher than normal temperatures. These conditions make the snow unstable and this includes the cement base.