Front Range
AvalancheJason Maurer · Mar 25, 2019 · Front Range
Weather
10,400ft SE aspect. Temps hovering around freezing. Mostly cloudy, light winds out of the west, preip S-1.
Snowpack
Observed a pretty deep snowpack 300cm + above Lake Haiyaha on Northerly aspects NTL. Wind loading and shallow wind slab formation occured on 3/23. Thickness of the slab ranged from 15-30cm deep depending on terrain configuration and exposure.
Avalanche
This is a second hand report after flagging down the party that triggered the avalanche. CMS had multiple guides in the drainage this day. A few other parties observed the avalanche as it was triggered. This avalanche was a soft slab avalanche that released in the surface wind slab layer most likely formed up on 3/23. One solo snow climber was bootpacking up the Elevator shaft couloir on Hallet peak when he was passed by a party of 2 skiers and one boarder. At the top of the couloir the solo climber asked if he could descend with the party of three. After transitioning to ski the couloir the snowboarder in the group descended first. As the boarded exited the choke near the top of the couloir he triggered the avalanche as was swept off his feet. How far the boarder was carried is not known but a first hand report form the solo climber said that he as able to self arrest by clawing his hands into the bed surface as the soft slab pulled away from him. The boarder did not have an ice axe. The crown was 30m long and it ran all the way to the apron about 800ft total.