Front Range

Avalanche

Brent Butler · Jan 27, 2018 · Front Range

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Weather

throughout tour observed scattered sky, trending towards broken. No precipitation, moderate winds out of west. Strong above treeline. Observed significant blowing snow above treeline. Air temp of -11C at 2:00

Snowpack

Wind slab development observed in leeward zones. Localized cracking. Wind slab was up to 30cm thick, 4f+ hard. Failed on shovel tilts. Dug snow profile on East-Northeast aspect, 10,400, 10 degrees, sparse trees, wind loaded zone. Snow profiles revealed 60cm 1f-P hard slab in the mid pack sitting on 40cm of 2mm facets. Compression tests resulted in sudden planar fractures. ECTX and PSTEND95/110 on same basal facet layer. HS ranged from 160-100cm.

Avalanche

n/o