Front Range
AvalancheAnonymous · Jun 14, 2015 · Front Range
Weather
Mostly sunny turning to partly cloudy at the time of the availing. Temperature in the upper 40's. I doubt there was any significant overnight freeze based on the snowpack conditions (see below).
Snowpack
The snow was soft and wet and in unconsolidated patches a climber would sink well above shin depth. Water was percolating through the snow pack and in places where the snow was melted o rock or tundra it was evident tat water was running under the snow pack. It was unlikely that a freeze occurred during the night or if it did it wa miild enough to be inconsequential at 9:00 when I reached timberline. Sizable roller balls could be easily made by throwing a snowball at the slope.
Avalanche
At 11:25am I was on the east facing slope of pikes peak at 13,700 feet in a rocky area on the climbers right of where the avalanche was to occur. A snowboarder (or possibly skier) descending from the summit triggered a wet loose slide very close to the convex roll over at about 14,000 feet. The rider backed off and I did not see him/her make a second attempt to descent. The slide was approximately 15 meters wide and continued for several minutes and extended half way down the face ( > 1000 ft). I estimate the angle of the start zone to be about 35 degrees using my iPhone app as a gage. I had heard the voices of two climbers far below before the slide so I shouted "avalanche" upon seeing the release. I had a very good view of the entire slide path and did not see anyone get caught. I took a short video as the slide was coming to rest.