Front Range
AvalancheIan Fowler · Apr 27, 2016 · Front Range
Weather
Snowing all morning with periods of s2+ snowfall. West wind Mod Gusting strong. Lots of snow Transport. Loading patterns seemed to suggest some Easterly transport also. Overcast with occasional hazy sunshine.
Snowpack
Old snow pack was well bonded large grains which were frozen with crust on top. New snow was poorly bonded below treeline and moderately bonded above treeline (hand shears) At the base of cliffs on Northerly aspects ATL we found pooled graupel within the new storm snow. Depth of snow over the melt freeze crust varied from 5cm BTL and TL on S and N to 30cm ATL on N.
Avalanche
Triggered a small pocket under the north face of hallets 11,770ft. This was R1 D1 soft slab (fist) approx 5-10cm deep , but was a surprise as up to that point had seen no cracking and hand shears were giving moderate results on the crust new snow interface. Upon further investigation it was a localized change in the storm snow that had probably pooled a pocket of Graupel up under the cliff at the base of the Northcutt. As we skied down we were able to trigger similar pockets close up to the cliff. 50ft away from the cliff and no reactivity. In terrain with cliff consequence these could have been a big problem.