Front Range

Avalanche

11,200, E,NE Party of two, second skier triggered an avalanche 300 feet from the top of red mountain while skiing the East face. The avalanche was triggered at a rock band that covers much of the East face and was largely buried with snow. Slope angle ~33° Crown was approximately 4 ft the avalanche path was probably 300 ft wide and ran for 500 ft or so. No one caught or buried as both skierss were able to get out of the avalanche path in time. Trigger was at a shallow portion of the snow pack on the rocky face, the avalanche exposed buried rocks that cross most of the slope but we're not visible at the beginning of the ski. Most of the slope on skinning up a had limited wind loading. However the trigger point had a slight roll over that was loaded. Trigger happened when I hit a rock mid slope and the energy from the trigger appeared to move above me where the crown was much deeper than the snow that started the cracks. Debris several feet deep. You can see the crown from the road on 34 it's pretty pronounced