Front Range
AvalancheTara Vessella · Dec 1, 2019 · Front Range
Weather
~10,000ft. Winds S & W sustained 12-15mph with gusts to 30. Some occasional visible blowing snow above 11,500ft. Temps 22-30F depending on location. Sky: CLR.
Snowpack
Highly variable snow conditions. Recent wind event has moved the majority of the high elevation snow to the NTL and BTL elevations. Surface conditions vary between soft 3-4cm reactive winds slab to hard supportive wind effected snow. Large whales/snow features and numerous down trees found throughout the day. Leeward high elevation gullies and terrain features have retained some snow from cross loading, but otherwise broad windward areas are completely stripped of snow. WEAK structure on northerly aspects NTL. See snow profile. Weak interface on northerly aspects between the recent storm snow and the October facets to the ground. Test blocks were jumping off columns with light force into pits with high quality fracture character. Localized cracking of surface snow with skier weight in a variety of locations as well. See PST video.
Avalanche
2 natural avalanches observed today on NE aspect of Otis Peak ~10,800ft. Both fractured at mid path elevation where snow load was lower in path. Visible from Lake Haiyaha, but debris and flanks were blown over from wind. Likely released within last 24hrs. (2) HS-N-R2D2. See photos