Front Range

Avalanche

Zach Taylor · Dec 22, 2015 · Front Range

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Weather

Mostly cloudy, winds were 10-15 mph out of the W at treeline, and snow fell in the 1/4 to 1/2 inch/hour range during the afternoon that we were touring today.

Snowpack

The snow surface was comprised primarily of stellar and decomposing snow crystals at all aspects and elevations traveled. Minor cracking and no whumping were observed on today's tour. No recent avalanche activity was observed either. A brief pit dug at approximately 11,800' in Moonlight bowl on an E/NE aspect revealed several midpack faceted layers and basal facets at the ground sandwiched between denser slabs. We got some high energy, planar shears with a shovel shear test but the same blocks did not fail all the way to 30 on CCT tests. It will be interesting to see how the mid pack facets and basal facets fair with new loads.

Avalanche

No avalanches were observed on today's tour.