Front Range

Avalanche

Spencer Herford · Dec 24, 2020 · Front Range

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Weather

Partly cloudy with a moderate west wind in the parking lot ~0830, clearing skies and pleasant temps with light northwest winds in the drainage.

Snowpack

Cracking and whumphing on east aspects below treeline everywhere we toured except for very dense and protected trees. HS near treeline where we topped out at 11,800 was avg of 70 cm. Test pit showed 50cm of 1F wind packed snow atop a fist hard 20cm of 4mm depth hoar with advanced striations. CT2 SC @ 20cm. Cracks and whumphing were good indications of propagation potential.

Avalanche

Noticed R2D2 slide on Woods Mtn SE ATL. From distance observed it looked like it broke to ground and the crown line refilled with recent blowing snow.