Front Range
AvalancheAndy Nelson · Dec 29, 2020 · Front Range
Weather
Overcast and obscured skies in the morning around 8:30am with moderate winds and blowing snow. Conditions improved with broken to scattered skies and no blowing snow towards 2pm.
Snowpack
Snowpack in this area is fairly consistent ranging from 80-100cm in most places. New snow from the last couple of days ranges from 20-30cm BTL and similar at and above. Above treeline surface snow began to consolidate and show signs of wind effect around 2pm. Did not conduct any snowpack tests because I wanted to ski, but could easily feel the structure of the snow throughout the day with poles and probing. Not surprising, there is a slab over weak snow in many places. Felt some collapsing several times underneath my skis, although did not observe any whumphing or shooting cracks. Hasty hand pits indicate the slab is around 1F to 4F- in hardness with F faceted snow below. Ranges in size depending on where you are in the terrain.
Avalanche
Observed a small natural ridgeline soft slab avalanche near the top of the bowl near the traditional cornice. East aspect, 11,300.