Front Range
AvalancheJeff Welch · Dec 14, 2014 · Front Range
Weather
Consistent moderate snowfall, appeared to be beginning to clear around 2pm. Calm in the morning, with light wind developing after noon (overall wind direction hard to tell because of localized features) and temperature dropping.
Snowpack
12-18" new snow. Storm snow was variable in density, with a very low density loose layer 6-8" deep at the start of the storm, 3-4" on denser 3-4F snow above, with new snow falling after about 8am progressively colder and lighter.
Avalanche
Storm snow cracked easily when stepping out of established skin tracks or on ski cuts; however, the storm slab lacked cohesiveness to break into chunks larger than a ski length. Point release new snow sloughs released easily on both E and NW aspects skied, and would run significant distance on pitches steeper than about 35 degrees. New snow is not bonding well to bed surfaces, even in locations with a heavily compacted base (Plunge) and the storm snow only needs to gain a little strength to break as a cohesive slab rather than point release.