Conditions Update: 12/17/07

Haven’t been blogging much lately so below is a picture report covering the past couple of weeks for the Front Range backcountry. Winter finally decided to make an appearance as most of Colorado got a good dose of deep white fluff over the first half of December. November was one of the driest and worst months for backcountry riding conditions I’ve seen in many years. So, out with the bad and in with the good. The first part of December we got hammered with anywhere between 3′ and 9′ of fresh pow. Wolf Creek pass was the big winner with over 100″ of new snow in just 14 days! Amazing.

Picture Report from the past week or so:

Click on images to view full size 

Luke and Marshal skinning near Berthoud Pass (12/16/07):

Zac slaying pow on Berthoud Pass (12/16/07):

View of the line we skied on Bald Mountain (12/1/07):

Great day skiing with Andy Dimmen up Woods Creek (12/2/07):

West side of Mt. Guyot looking a bit thin (12/1/07):

Marshal surfing pow:

The Colorado snowpack is at 109% of normal, so those memories of a slow start to the season are quickly fading away. The snowpack may be above average, but early season precautions still need to be made as their are plenty of logs, rocks, and debris still lurking underneath. Here’s a cool graph from the NRCS showing where we stand in comparison to previous seasons:

The first avalanche death happened shortly after the big storms and took the life of a dedicated and humble backcountry rider. The group dug the victim out, resuscitated him, and it appeared everyone would be alright as the victim was transported to the hospital. I thought for sure Luke was going to make it, but a week after the incident he passed away. RIP Luke Oldenburg. I won’t go into detail as you can read about the incident here: http://avalanche.state.co.us/Accidents/Colorado/By+Season/2007-08+Season/20071207.htm.

As far as avalanche danger, I’ve found that most aspects are settling fairly well with the exception of north-northeast facing terrain. There are still pockets of instability just about everywhere, but the most widespread danger lies on steep, shady, northerly aspects where a large amount of depth hoar is sitting underneath all this new snow. Up until late last week we have had relatively calm winds, which is quite rare for this time of year. Since Thursday of last week strong winds have formed wind slabs and undesireable ski conditions above treeline on easterly aspects. The best and safest snow can be found below treeline on protected SW and SE slopes. Temps have been too cold and the sun hasn’t been out enough to form any crust on these aspects yet, so conditions are soft, deep, and safe. On Friday I triggered a remote slide as I was traversing along the treelined ridge above Chimney chute near Berthoud Pass. The slide ran to the ground and ran the entire length of the chute. A lot of stored energy remains coiled up on those northern aspects.

More Berthoud pow (This weekend):