Front Range
Avalanchesarah janin · Mar 25, 2023 · Front Range
Weather
Overnight noted strong to extreme winds. CAIC weather station located at Loveland pass summit 11,089', which is the closest station to this zone, showed windspeed at 8am sustained 27mph with gusts of 50mph coming from the WNW. This morning we measured 3cm of new snow at 13:20 at 11,170'. We had calm to light winds around 12:00-13:00
Snowpack
While touring this morning we punched through the thin wind skin and sun crusts with our skis. We noted specific unsupportable upper snowpack in which we would dropped into the faceted layer. Very minor collapsing- no whumps or cracks. Dug a snow pit on an East aspect at 11,170' NTL. WX- SKY=OVC Current Precip=S-1 Wind=Calm gust Light incline 25 degrees HS-119cm HNS-3cm Poor Structure- CT13 SC down 82cm- See photo
Avalanche
Avalanche located above Duck Lake. HS-N-R4-D3, ESE aspect. Start zone 11,600', ~ 1200 ft wide, ran ~ 1200 ft onto lake. Depth of debris was >240cm. Probe could not touch the ground. Crown ~ 8-12 ft at greatest hight. Bed surface was scree/boulders/shrubs/ with extremely sparse vegetation. Took out small 2'-3' size young trees. Slope angle ranged from 35-37 degrees.