Front Range
AvalancheIan Fowler · Dec 4, 2023 · Front Range
Weather
It was a warm day but the winds near treeline made up for it with strong gusts from a westerly direction. There was a lot of active snow transport.
Snowpack
Below the treeline, the snow depth was about 40cm (15 inches) on the north and easterly slopes and about 20cm (8 inches) on southerly aspects. Ski penetration was almost all the way to the ground in most areas. Where there was a slab, it broke easily in extended column tests (ECT) on a thin Melt Freeze crust just above the ground with facets above and below. Slab and weak layer continuity is variable at this elevation. As I approached the treeline, although snow depths increased close to 75cm ( 30 inches) and deeper in drifts, ski penetration decreased to about 5-10cm as the snow stiffened noticeably. Almost every step I took above the road collapsed or cracked with cracks shooting 50-100ft. The slopes I traveled were less than about 30 degrees, so I was unable to get anything to move, although any steeper rollers had already avalanched naturally. The structure was poor with a strong slab and weak facets around a crust that was failing easily in ECTs. Conditions were touchy and I would not want to venture on or under anything steep.
Avalanche
Multiple avalanches on small rolls that are well-supported so the slides didn't have a chance to move very far.