Front Range
AvalancheMax Brand · Apr 20, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
The night before we had discussed the wind slab problem and were aware of the winds in the forecast. When we got to the base of the couloir there were no signs of drifted snow or instability. There was a reported 8" of new snow in the last 12 hours with a 1 danger level on all elevations with a risk of wind slab on slopes that have more than 10 inches of drifted snow. None of us observed or voiced signs of drifted snow or instability on the boot up. The party above us that triggered a wind slab about 100' above them and had not voiced any signs of instability. It felt like a safe day, but the wind at the top must have drifted snow to the lee during the night and in the morning.
Snowpack
The 8' of new snow was of light density. There were no sighs of wind affected snow.
Avalanche
My partner and I were ascending Dead Elk Couloir in RMNP with a party of 2 in front of us and a party of 3 behind us. At 10:15AM when we were about 100ft away from the rock step, the party 100ft in front of us yelled "slide". The wind slab most likely broke at an elevation of 11300'. Seconds later snow started charging towards us and knocked all of us off our feet. All 6 skiers and one split boarder got locked off their feet and tumbled 1000ft+ down to the apron of the couloir. I was initially fully buried but was able to get to the surface after the first 100 or so feet, Most of us were fully under the snow during the slide, but were able to get to the surface before it stopped moving. Nobody was fully buried when the slide stopped. After all members were identified and checked on, many skiers from the area came to help do a gear search. The slide was recorded at a top speed of 25 MPH from a GPS. Sunglasses, one BD ski pole, and a bag lunch was lost. 40 minutes after the slide, a wet loose section slid on the upper apron under Dragon's Tail and slid 20', it was about 10' wide. Another small 30' slide was reported on Dragon's Tail, which knocked a skier off his feet, 10 minutes before the one on Dead Elk.