Front Range

Avalanche

Chris Stillwell · Dec 27, 2013 · Front Range

View on map

Weather

Sunny 30 to 40 degrees F no wind Tombstone Ridge, Hidden Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park SE aspect ~12,000 ft

Snowpack

Hard packed and windblown snow, icy in areas with wind loading on the wayward (east) side of terrain features. Location of slide was, in hindsight, heavily windloaded. The face is in direct sunlight in the late morning and early afternoon. Thick (~4 to 5 foot), well consolidated wind load layer on top of firmer hard pack. Tombstone Ridge, Hidden Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park SE aspect ~12,000 ft

Avalanche

Large slab avalanche skier triggered at convex roll over into face large cracks propogating ~300 ft from trigger location Entire (4-5 ft) upper consolidated layer released across the entire face (300 - 400 ft wide) Slide traveled 500 to 700 feet in to the gully below Tombstone Ridge, Hidden Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park SE aspect ~12,000 ft