Front Range

Avalanche

Eric Haskell · Mar 21, 2021 · Front Range

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Weather

clear to light snow throughout day with periods of graupel; snow was dry from trailhead to summit with exception of S facing slope at 11,6K; moderate to intense west winds

Snowpack

NE Aspect ~12-13K in protected couloir: crossloaded wind slabs on northern and eastern aspects 10-100cm deep - highly variable distribution; 5-10cm pencil crust under last nights snow and ontop of last weeks storm - breakable without propagation but clean shears in hand pits above and below crust. No collapses, positive cracking in new wind slabs.

Avalanche

NE aspect ~12-13K - numerous rider triggered wind slab pockets/sloughing 4'x6', no propagation but avoided large pockets