Front Range
AvalancheIan Fowler · May 3, 2023 · Front Range
Weather
It was a warm day even at 7am and got warmer with temps measured at 6c at 11,000ft. Winds were moderate from the west. Clouds had not built up when I departed at 12pm.
Snowpack
The snowpack below treeline was frozen in the morning were there was a clear view of the sky. In these areas, there was a stout two to three-inch melt-freeze crust. By the time I departed, this crust had mostly broken down. Where there was canopy cover, boot penetration was 30cm in the morning and to the ground by noon. There is still over 1 meter of snow in most places below treeline. Near treeline on easterly aspects, the snow was wet by 9am and I was sinking in on skis to 10cm and 30cm with boots. There was about an inch of new snow in this location and water had wetted recently down to about 25cm. There looked to be runnels on the surface, so I am not sure if the snow started as rain at this elevation. On northerly aspects, the water had drained into the snowpack about 25cm, where it sat above pencil-hard rounded snow and crust layers. On all aspects, there was no sign of any persistent grain layers. At 12000ft on a southerly aspect at around noon, only the top two to three inches of snow was soft and wet and despite ski cutting some steeper slopes, I could not get any snow moving. Many of the cornices were looking very droopy. I did not see signs of any recent collapses but I would give them a wide berth both above and below.
Avalanche
All the avalanches I saw looked to be 24 to 48 hours old. I noted two significant ones but there had been widespread Loose Dry activity from many steep northerly through easterly to south easterly slopes.