CAIC

CAIC: Colorado Avalanche Information Center

BC Zone Observation Report

Sunday, January 9, 2022 at 12:00 AM
Front Range

Details

Date: 2022/01/09

Observer: Will Garcia
Organization: Public

Location

BC Zone: Front Range
Area Description: St. Mary’s Lake next to St. Mary’s Glacier.

Weather

Weather Description: Mostly sunny, heavy winds.

Snowpack

Snowpack Description: 70cm pit dug to ground on similar aspect near avalanche. Weak layers throughout. Compression test on column caused the column to collapse over the faceted snow layer at the ground after 8 strikes from the elbow. Snow pit dug at red “X” on google earth pic

Avalanches

Avalanche Description: A few hundred feet wide. 10+ ft deep debris pile at the edge of the lake, debris slid out over half of the lake.

Date

Location/Path

#

Elev

Asp

Type

Trig

SizeR

SizeD

View

2022/01/09 ^†

Other

1

>TL

E

R3

D2

Media

Images

<b>Figure 1:</b> A large avalanche outlined near St. Mary's Glacier Front Range Zone, January 9, 2022 (<a href=javascript:void(0); onClick=win=window.open('https://caic-production.imgix.net/vehrnz1g984lzmylh1k1g0wdg6su?ixlib=php-3.1.0&s=58b50ec87d78585c4af3df743b5b992f','caic_media','resizable=1,height=820,width=840,scrollbars=yes');win.focus();return false;>see full sized image</a>)

<b>Figure 2:</b> A large avalanche outlined in red near St. Mary's Glacier Front Range Zone, January 9, 2022 (<a href=javascript:void(0); onClick=win=window.open('https://caic-production.imgix.net/zzz9qba5c46orfn2uppfgixgwlxy?ixlib=php-3.1.0&s=59327f41906e61b778e66fb172b60ae8','caic_media','resizable=1,height=820,width=840,scrollbars=yes');win.focus();return false;>see full sized image</a>)

<b>Figure 3:</b> Approximate location of the avalanche near St. Mary's Glacier. The X marks where a snowpit was dug and the red line is the approximate size and location of the avalanche. Front Range Zone January 9, 2022 (<a href=javascript:void(0); onClick=win=window.open('https://caic-production.imgix.net/085zojbs3o28hej297ycaamiibtu?ixlib=php-3.1.0&s=437b540d31eb3339cb92a2dfcf6b03f1','caic_media','resizable=1,height=820,width=840,scrollbars=yes');win.focus();return false;>see full sized image</a>)