Front Range
AvalanchePayton Schiff · Dec 6, 2022 · Front Range
Weather
Wx at pit location near the bottom of the NE meadows at 11,606ft: overcast with a trace amount of snowfall. Calm NW winds. Later throughout the day, pockets of sunshine occasionally peaked thru and the snow stopped. Air temp was 18.5 degrees F at 1150.
Snowpack
I observed some cracking and felt collapsing along the ridgeline likely due to wind loading. Other than that, I observed relatively stable conditions. The results of my instability tests indicated a lack of cohesion between the old and new snow interface. Height of snow at my pit location was 79cm and I started to find faceted grains at 36cm up from the ground. The slope I skied was a NE aspect around 15 degrees; I suspect had I skied a steeper slope on the same aspect and started from the ridgeline like I did, the wind loading I found at ridgeline would have made for much more suspect skiing.
Avalanche
N/O