Use safe travel techniques as soon as you leave the trailhead. Traveling safely to the area you want to ride is part of the challenge of backcountry travel. On your approach, use ridges and lower angle slopes. If the ridge you are traveling on is corniced, stay well back. Heavily treed slopes work well also, but remember if the trees are spaced wide enough to drive through and the slope is steep enough, then it can slide. Avoid gullies. Even a small slide can pile up enough snow to bury you in a gully. Remember all the snow is connected. You can be riding on a flat road and if the slope above you is steep enough and the snow is unstable, you can trigger a slide above you from your spot on the road. Be aware of what you are traveling beneath.