Front Range
AvalancheJason Maurer · Mar 17, 2020 · Front Range
Weather
Gradual building of clouds through the day. Warm temps and not as much wind as expected in the above treeline zone.
Snowpack
Wet and saturated on sunny aspects NTL and BTL.
Avalanche
We placed a spotter on the ridge as to have eyes on the entire line. I skied 1st. Top three quarters of the couloir skied great with supportable turns in good corn snow. As I skied out of the main hallway of the couloir I was not aware of the sudden change in snowpack saturation on the steep apron. I made an arching turn over a convexity and looked over my shoulder behind me and saw a wall of wet snow moving toward me. I was knocked off my skis. One of my skis had released as I was now laying prone with my head facing up hill. I was able to self arrest with my ski poles into the bed surface before being swept into the exposed skree and boulders below. My partners skied the line without incident.