Front Range

Avalanche

Jason Maurer · Jan 29, 2017 · Front Range

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Weather

NE aspect, 10,300ft, above lake Haiyaha. Few clouds, light to moderate winds with strong winds visible on the ridge lines above 11,000ft. Winds steadily decreasing throughout the day with temps hovering around 25-30F.

Snowpack

NE aspect, 10,300ft, Below "Chaos Trees". Snowpack obs revealed a 20cm thick, pencil hard wind slab residing near the surface that was failing easy on 0.5mm sized DF's ( Decomposing & fragmented precip particles ) of 4F density. Both column tests produced easy results CTE SC Q1, 25cm below the surface. HS= 230cm

Avalanche

Above Nymph Lake, East aspect, 9,700ft, BTL. Observed an unreported avalanche that may have been only 24hrs old directly above the summer trail. Wind slab avalanche R1 D1 with a crown averaging between 15-20in in height. Unknown trigger. Large wind blown convexity positioned below a steep cliff on 35+ degree slope defines this start zone.