Front Range
AvalancheAnonymous · Dec 27, 2013 · Front Range
Weather
Sky: clear Winds: light Temp: low 30's 11,200 ft SE Aspect
Avalanche
At approx. 1300 on 12/27 the first of two skiers unintentionally triggered a hard slab avalanche on a 35 degrees slope on a SE aspect at 11,200 ft in upper Hidden Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park. The skier was able to escape before being swept down slope. The slab propagated about 200 ft wide and ran about 300 feet down slope, depositing debris in a shallow gully. Debris was 6+ feet deep and was up to 3x3 ft in size. The bed surface was a knife hardness crust (from several storms ago?) on the western side and ran to the ground on the eastern half of the crown. Crown height was 1-4 ft, averaging about 18 inches.