Front Range

Avalanche

Jordan Lipp · May 3, 2018 · Front Range

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Weather

Snowing heavily.

Snowpack

While there were no shooting cracks that propagated significantly, the snow was slabby in the Perfect Trees / Middle 110s area of Berthoud Pass (S, SE, and E aspects between 11,600' and 10,800'). Below Teacup Bowl, on a level section (approx. 11,000'), I heard two decent size Whoomphs.

Avalanche

The hitchhikers I picked up after my tour reported that one of them triggered a soft-slab avalanche while ski cutting the top of Lift Gully. He reported that it was an 8" crown, and ran the full length of the path and most but not quite the full width. Due to the heavy snow, I couldn't see the slope, but based upon my past experience with that slide path and his description, my GUESS is as follows: AS-SS-R3-D1.5. As you know, Lift Gulley is an East Aspect, with a starting zone at approx. 11,750' and a svertical of approx. 400' for slides like this.