Front Range

Avalanche

Scott/Mike Toepfer/Cooperstein · Dec 2, 2016 · Front Range

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Weather

Clouds on the increase during the morning hours. Southerly winds on west side of Continental Divide were cold and moderate speeds, but dropped to nil on east side of Divide. Fog rolled up & back down Kearney Gulch, east side of Divide, all morning. Cloud cover increased and lowered during our tour, but no additional snow fall noted during the day. Cold

Snowpack

Surprisingly thin. I expected a little more down slope extent for snow cover given recent winds. Ridge lines had sufficient snow to climb, but the wind drifted snowpack did not extend far down slope on N->E->S aspects that we saw. Some steep wind loaded gully features with north aspect did hold a little more snow. Explosive triggered activity was reported nearby on steep north aspect, near treeline terrain today (Friday 12/2/16)

Avalanche

Small slab, which ran just north of an older (Maybe a week ago?)slab. Visibility pretty poor, could not get a picture