Winter backcountry around Aspen falls in the CAIC Aspen avalanche zone

The peaks and bowls around Aspen are beautiful in winter and also full of avalanche terrain. Steep, snow-loaded slopes can slide, and people are caught most often in the backcountry: while skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, or even crossing a slope on foot. A ski resort controls its avalanche risk inside the ropes; the backcountry does not.

For Colorado, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) divides the state into forecast zones and publishes a daily backcountry forecast for each during the season. The mountains around Aspen sit in the CAIC’s Aspen zone. The forecast rates the danger by elevation and slope direction, describes the snowpack problems to watch for, and is updated as conditions change.

If you plan to travel in the winter backcountry here, reading the Aspen-zone forecast is a basic first step, not an optional one. It will not make travel safe by itself; that takes training, the right gear, and good decisions on the slope. But it tells you what the snow is doing that day, which is information you cannot get by looking out the window.

Check the current Aspen-zone forecast on the Colorado Avalanche Information Center website before any winter backcountry trip.