Front Range

Avalanche

Colin Wann · Jan 24, 2017 · Front Range

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Weather

Clear skies all morning, with some clouds developing by 10am. Calm BTL, Light winds from the West NTL, Moderate winds developing to Gusty Moderate+ ATL. Air at 12:30pm was 11c. Snow increased through the day with brief periods of S2 coming in as a Stellar/Graupel combo. Snowfall was limited to higher elevations of 9,500 and up. Visibility dropped dramatically as the afternoon weather developed, with periods of significant snowfall and wind transported snow.

Snowpack

New snow was drifted in as deep as 12" BTL and around 4" NTL with a wind layer beginning to develop in the PM ATL. Supportable snow underfoot, below the new snow, with no signs of instability observed while traveling.

Avalanche

I observed two avalanches in the High Alpine zone of The Gash in RMNP from recently developed storm slab ATL overnight. The two slides were on North and North-East aspects with steep starting zones. They both triggered at similar elevations of 11,500-12,000ft where significant loading occurs, but exposure to heavy wind is limited. R2 D1 and R3 D2 were enough to turn me around and head to lower elevation.