Front Range

Avalanche

Colin Karge · Apr 14, 2020 · Front Range

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Weather

Cloudy with breaks of sunshine. Moderate winds out of the west.

Snowpack

~5 inches of new and drifted snow in most areas. More snow and more wind with elevation gain. We found sensitive wind slabs 5-9” deep on leeward slopes and in gully’s. I imagine this problem gets more severe with elevation. The slabs were sitting on a slick bed surface of refrozen snow.

Avalanche

We triggered a wind slab on a small NE slope below tree line that broke 6” deep & 20’ wide that ran for about 20 ft. This problem would be worse in larger paths or terrain traps.