Front Range
AvalancheRobert V. Coppolillo · Nov 12, 2015 · Front Range
Weather
Sunny, clear, cold, moderate winds from the NE/N, sheltered below treeline and strong solar (hot!)
Snowpack
Highly variable, from 10cm on solar aspects near treeline to filled-in gullies (east-facing) up to 1m deep. Up to 10cm of depth hoar (small--undeveloped, but not measured) in places, but generally less layering that I expected. Wind-skin developing at 11,000ft NE/E/SE aspects, becoming a soft-slab (up to 25cm thick) above 11,600ft, becoming a stiff slab at ridgeline (approx 12,600), with cornices developing.
Avalanche
Two D1, slab avalanches observed, one at approx 11,500, in a shallow, confined gully trimmed by rock on both sides. Chunks (microwave sized) and debris, ran 100ft. Enough to knock somebody down. Second D1 appeared to be triggered by a cornice drop at Jones Pass proper, large chunks at start zone, then remnants of a slab traveled 200 ft downslope (east-facing, right where road crests the ridgeline at Jones Pass). 12,600ft approx.