Front Range
Avalanchebrent butler · May 5, 2021 · Front Range
Weather
@ 11500-13000', ridge top, northerly aspects: Windy, westerly 10-15 mph, G30. Overcast. No active precipitation but plenty of moving snow.
Snowpack
@ 11500-13000', ridge top, northerly aspects: Up to 12" of wind deposited/storm snow from overnight poorly bonded to ~8" of well settled snow from Sunday/Monday, sitting on top melt freeze. Generally, widespread and sensitive windslabs lurking in all top loaded and cross loaded terrain features. Good skiing though.
Avalanche
Right at the entrance to the chute from the lower subridge/shoulder I triggered a D1.5 soft slab in the wind deposited storm snow. It initiated effortlessly and ran the entire slope without entraining much additional snow. I triggered numerous other size <1 isolated pockets on the continued descent until I was no longer in cross loaded/wind exposed terrain. Location of avalanche is annotated in the attached photo.