Front Range
AvalancheIan Fowler · May 9, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
Winds were light and out of the east with flurries of snow and cloudy skies.
Snowpack
New snow depths varied from about 10cm to 25cm depending on aspect and location. This snow was well bonded to melt-freeze crusts which were about 10cm thick with large wet grains beneath. There was very little cracking, and test slopes did not react to jumps and ski cuts. Around 11 am, the sun came out briefly, and roller balls started up. The snow became heavier almost instantly on southeast aspects. There were some areas where cornices had fallen and not triggered any deeper avalanches. On northerly aspects we were able to trigger micro avalanches right below ridges.
Avalanche
There were some avalanches beneath the cornice at the head of Current Creek to the lookers left of the postage stamp ski run. I imagine these were cornice triggered.