BC Zone Observation Report
Friday, December 15, 2017 at 12:00 AM
Front Range
Details
Date:
2017/12/15
Observer:
Public
Location
BC Zone:
Front Range
Area Description:
Second Creek Headwall
Weather
Weather Description:
No Sky Cover Calm Wind No Precipitation North to East aspect 11700' 8:30 AM
Snowpack
Snowpack Description:
Wind Effected Crust with three inches of snow from the 12/13 Storm. Sitting on top of the snow from the 12/7 storm. The 12/7 snow has formed a hard slab.
Avalanches
Avalanche Description:
The avalanche was skier triggered when a skier skied over a wind lip. The whole cornice/wind slab failed. It appeared that it started to break on a north facing part of the cornice and then propagated onto an east aspect. The skier was never caught as the slab did not propagate back to him. The cornice moved the 12/13 snow and slid on top of a hard slab. Based on the rest of the snow pack it appeared that the cornice/wind slab is what triggered the 12/7 snow. The crown was around 3 inches tall and 100 feet wide. We human factored ourselves. The scarcity of the snow made us both disregard the obvious warning signs of the forecast, the cornice, the wind slab, and the slope angle.
Date
Location/Path
#
Elev
Asp
Type
Trig
SizeR
SizeD
2017/12/15
†
1
>TL
E
SS
AS / u
D1.5
Date:
2017/12/15 (Estimated)
Sliding Surface:
O - Within Old Snow
Average Crown:
8 cm
Maximum Width:
100 ft
Media
Images