Front Range
SnowpackKevin Baker · Apr 7, 2011 · Front Range
Weather
Weather was partly cloudy with winds 20-30 out of the northwest. A minor storm the previous night brought about 4-6" of new snow in the area.
Snowpack
The snowpack is very thin on Pikes Peak, below average for sure. On the approach, postholing was the norm on north and east facing aspects. 4-6" of new snow fell overnight. The new snow seemed to bond well with the existing base, which seemed to be very firm. There were no visual signs of instability during the climb such as shooting cracks, whumphs, or roller balls. No pit test was done. This was a hard slab avalanche on a n.e facing, convex aspect at the top of the couloir to climbers right. It was obviously wind loaded. The crown was approx 1 foot deep and about 100 feet wide. Debris from the shallow slide ran slowly at least 300 feet down the couloir.