Front Range
AvalancheGreg Horvath · Apr 9, 2019 · Front Range
Weather
Mostly sunny, with steady 10-20mph winds and 30+mph gusts on the ridges. Building clouds to the west.
Snowpack
At 11,000-11,800 feet, there were variable conditions with hard pack in the fans, well-bonded snow on the open faces, and 2-12 inches of new or cross-loaded snow in certain features and pockets. We observed isolated instability on the ascents of 1c and 1b and chose to continue due to their size and isolation. During the ascent of 1b and in the pocket that eventually released, we encountered deeper snow than we had seen in either 1c or the rest of the 1b couloir.
Avalanche
At 4:10 pm, a roughy 25 x 15 foot release occurred just above the choke of the northeast-facing couloir. Another party member (on skis) had just previously descended the line via the right entrance to the hourglass-shaped couloir (white arrow). I entered the couloir (on snowboard, via yellow dashed line), and the slope cracked below and then immediately above me, sweeping me off my feet and carrying me down for about 150 meters. I impacted the rock slabs/side walls of the gully and, near the exit, was able to ride left and away from the slide path (to the yellow star). The total slide path was about 200 meters (red dashed line). The debris was dry and unconsolidated. The estimated crown height was 6-12 inches (red ellipse).