Front Range
AvalancheIan Fowler · Jan 20, 2023 · Front Range
Weather
It was a cold day with moderate winds and light snow.
Snowpack
Heading up St. Marys's Glacier the snow was almost impenetrable to a probe and as I got higher was 1ft high sastrugi. On the slope below Kingston peak, I intentionally chose a shallower area and found a snowpack with a weak base and strong mid-pack that was successfully insulating the weak layers beneath. In Extended Column Tests, there were no results, but on a none standard sidecut Propagation Saw test, the cut length was only 40/90cm on the basal weakness, confirming it would be difficult to trigger but with plenty of propagtion potential.
Avalanche
This looked like an old avalanche maybe 1 week old. There was no crown visible. The slide had broken through the lake ice as there was blue ice in the debris.