Bad site selection kills more people than bad shelter-building technique. Check for these before you commit:
- Widowmakers overhead — dead branches or dead trees ("snags") that can fall without warning, especially in wind. Look up before you look down.
- Flash flood terrain — dry creek beds, canyon bottoms, anywhere with signs of water scouring. They can flood fast from rain falling miles away, out of sight.
- Rockfall / avalanche paths — scree fields or treeless chutes on slopes above you.
- Insect and animal sign — ant mounds, wasp nests, game trails (you don't want to camp on an animal's commute).
- Elevation and exposure — valley bottoms pool cold air overnight; ridgelines catch full wind. A site partway up a slope, with a windbreak, is usually the balance point.
Once the site passes those checks, optimize for a nearby water source, dry ground, and morning sun exposure to help you warm up and dry out gear.