Front Range
AvalancheAustin DiVesta · Nov 23, 2021 · Front Range
Weather
Temperatuers hovered right around freezing for day. High clouds moved into the area around 12:30pm. Winds were out of the northwest and strong enough to move snow.
Snowpack
Today, I traveled on northeast to east through southeast aspects. The height of snow is driven by aspect and ranges from bare ground to 50cm. At 11800 feet, I found a slab created by recently drifted snow over an early-season weak layer on a northeast aspect. This slab/facet combination produced an easy (9 taps) propagating failure on an ECT 32 cms from the surface. I was surprised that the block did not fail deeper in the snowpack and how reactive the weak layer was. This is the kind of slab/facet combination I will continue to avoid on steep slopes, specifically near-ridgelines or cross-loaded terrain features. As I skinned up an east-facing slope, I noticed localized cracking under my skis’ in newly drifted snow. Northwest winds continue to create a wind-drifted slab over weak facets towards the ground.
Avalanche
One small path ran around November 22nd strom off an east aspect on the headwall in No Name Basin ( Point 12507 or locally know as Stanley Cirque). Looks to be a soft slab that broke mid-slope and ran 100ft wide and 200ft vertically.