Front Range
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek · Jan 1, 2022 · Front Range
Weather
Chilly morning getting colder throughout the day with very cold northwest winds. S-1 precipitation with OVC skies until around 2 PM when clouds began to clear and sun came out. Moderate ridgeline snow transport all day. 4:00 PM back at Berthoud Summit temperature was 4 F with Broken sky and Light to Moderate northwest winds.
Snowpack
Localized collapsing and shooting cracks on all aspects below the treeline, with two widespread rolling collapses that shook snow off trees 20+ ft. away. HS on southerly aspects sits at about 1m with the top 70cm being new, firm snow from the past couple of weeks with a spatially variable crust and well-developed facets making up the bottom 30cm of the snowpack. Northerly aspects had an average HS of about 130-150cm above 11,000 ft. of new snow with a 1F to P hard slab resting above 30-40cm of very weak and well-developed facets.
Avalanche
Noticed several old avalanches once the clouds cleared that had been mostly filled in but could distinguish obvious debris piles and sections of the avalanche crowns.