Front Range

Avalanche

Christopher Gardner · Mar 30, 2024 · Front Range

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Observation photo 1Observation photo 2

Weather

Scattered clouds and light to moderate winds throughout the day. No noticeable wind loading happening that day.

Snowpack

We dug a NE-facing NTL pit near the top of Chute 3. Even in thinner spots the snowpack is 2 meters deep at the top the chutes, with the February weak layer being almost 1.5 meters deep. There is a layer of 4F near surface rounding facets 15cm down that appear to be healing. We got ECTN#19 on this layer, then ECTX on any deeper layers.

Avalanche

Triggered a stubborn D1 HS on a test slope after much coaxing. It did not slide with 2 skiers jumping and stomping around on top for a couple minutes. After digging a hand pit and toppling a block, the slope slid.