Front Range
AvalancheDominic Rickicki · Apr 3, 2021 · Front Range
Weather
Above treeline, clear skies and strong west wind, giving way to moderate winds after 11am.
Snowpack
North aspects were still holding cold snow, we skied the ptarmigan couloir which consisted of firm, chalky surface conditions and pleasant skiing. No instabilities observed, dug in some shallow spots (roughly 60-70cm) and found no sign of faceting in the lower pack. South aspects were firm and taking a long time to soften in the sun due to the winds in the zone. Notchtop couloir consisted of varying conditions from old firm windslabs to old powder up high. Skiing was generally excellent, we avoided the main couloir in favor of the face skiers right due to cross loading in the couloir proper, the windslabs did not appear to be reactive and the snow was moist, but we decided to not mess with it. We were able to ski into the couloir about 2/3 of the way down which provided pleasant skiing.
Avalanche
SS-N-R1-D1 NE aspect, ATL. Appeared to be a naturally released windslab that was a day or two old.