Location: Cement Creek Area
Date of Observation: 01/03/2020
Name: Eric Murrow

Subject: Windy Cement Creek – Hunter Hill

Aspect: East, South East

Elevation: 9000′ – 12000′

Avalanches: Observed a handful of natural avalanches near and above treeline on east and southeast aspects. Several looked to have a bit of age possibly from the Christmas storm period, but two windslabs were recent from drifting. I was able to poke into one of these fresh windslab avalanches and found slabs 30cm thick and pencil hard.

Weather: Mostly sunny with a few thin, low clouds on highest terrain. The wind was the real story…alpine terrain was absolutely blasted with snow being blown into the atmosphere at upper elevations. Would estimate wind speeds of 40+ miles per hour above tree line out of the NNW.

Snowpack: HS was around 70cm in this area. SE slopes were largely a mix of facets and crusts capped with recent snowfall. An easterly facing slope at 11,900′, with previous drifting, produced an ECTP 13 result, 30cm down on thin facet layer. Much of the alpine terrain in this area was worked by the wind leaving behind some hardslabs on select leeward alpine features; terrain closer to treeline held a more concerning snowpack with some drifting but not the blasting alpine terrain received.

Photos:

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 01/02/2020
Name: Schiff
Subject: Purple Palace Possible Persistent Slab
Aspect: North, North East, East
Elevation: 11,500

Avalanches:

“Noticed this yesterday morning on Purple Palace, probably happened early morning or during Wednesday night”

Fx Note: This avalanche may be a repeat offender that has slid earlier in the season and reloaded. Hard to tell from this distance shot. Regardless of a windslab or persistent slab, this avalanche is dangerous and deadly.

Photos:

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 01/02/2020
Subject: Anthracite Mesa-Coneys
Aspect: North East
Elevation: BTL
Avalanches:

Between Baldy and Schoefield Pass, observed a few U-U-R1-D1 slides on SW/S slopes. See picture.

Weather: moderate winds ATL in the morning with blowing snow on Gothic and Baldy from the East. Winds dropped to calm to light. Few clouds. Air temperature at 11:30 AM on ridge was 20 degrees F.

Snowpack: See attached snow pilot plot. This is the first pit this year and perhaps since 2018 so I could be off by one factor of hardness for 1F and P between 0 cm and 64 cm.
Compression test: CT 29 Q3 on 1F snow at 15 cm.
boot pen: 36 cm

Photos:

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/02/2020
Name: Evan Ross & Zach Kinler
Subject: High Quality New Snow
Aspect: East, South East
Elevation: 10,500-12,500

Avalanches: Nothing significant, but a good number of generally small natural avalanches. Plenty of loose snow, and also soft slab avalanches to be seen. All the soft slab avalanches were at near or above treeline elevations in open terrain. These all appeared to break at the old snow interface or within the recent storm snow. No slabs were observed in sheltered terrain.

Weather: Few clouds through most of the day. While driving to the Kebler trailhead, big snow plumes could be seen off Mt Emmons. After getting up into the Kebler Pass area the wind had calmed. Lite drifting could be seen in the Ruby Range during the day. In the late afternoon, the orographic clouds finally moved over the Ruby Range bringing S1 snowfall and increased winds from the northwest.

Snowpack: High-quality new snow. Cold, not quite blower, but very light and very good. Storm totals around 12″. No slab avalanche issues were found in the new snow on protected or wind-sheltered slopes. Moving through wind-loaded slopes at NTL elevations, drifts were around 2 feet thick, but still had little slab to them. We were able to ski cut a few narrow and very soft wind slabs in the terrain. However, this wasn’t a significant problem or really much of a problem at all. Moving into the alpine, similar conditions were observed, but travel into wind-loaded terrain was both limited and avoided.

The sun was warming the new snow on the lower elevation southerly facing slopes during the day, before the clouds moved in during the late afternoon. Helping settlement, but not enough to create a crust at the surface on these slopes.

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 01/02/2020
Name: Ian Havlick
Subject: Red Lady Bowl
Aspect: East, South East, South, South West
Elevation: 10-12,000ft

Avalanches: none observed in terrain traveled. Looked like potential some small debris across in the Green Lake area near Axtell, and some minor human-cut cornice fall in center of RLB, no results.

Weather: Beauty day, cold, crisp, tapering NW winds after 11am, orographic haze and very light flurries persisted most of day. Storm accumulations seemed in the 6-10″ range. intense solar

Snowpack: Lower elevation protected southerlies moistened in afternoon and will be a crust tomorrow. Otherwise, remarkable coverage above treeline, winds have not moved much snow off traditionally scoured uptrack to top of Emmons. No profiles dug, but pole tests confirmed stack of melt freeze crusts in upper 3 feet of snowpack. Denser wind drifted snow in lee and crossloaded terrain. Avoided obvious wind loaded terrain today.

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 01/01/2020
Subject: Mt. Emmons – Red Lady Glades
Aspect: South East
Elevation: 10,700

Avalanches: Around 2 PM, partner triggered a small, inconsequential slide as they skied along the top of an east facing convex rollover btl on generally shaded, south facing terrain. Slide did not propagate over the entire slope.

Weather: Slide occurred between the first and second wave of the New Years storm. Approximately 2” of new snow had fallen so far that day.

Snowpack: Slide appeared to fail on the 12/24 facet layer and entrained the Santa Storm snow.

Photos:

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 01/01/2020
Aspect: North East
Elevation: 11,300

Avalanches: no and no evidence of old ones seen

Weather: Mostly clear, calm and cold. Some gusty winds up top later in the afternoon.

Snowpack: Snowpack not very consolidated nor all that deep yet. skied well, but many hollow spots near rock bands and trees. Lots of sluffing in the top 6 to 8 inches of new snow up high. Boot pen knee deep in the valley floor. Skin track had an icy base on south aspect.

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 01/02/2020
Name: billy barr
Subject: Gothic 6am Weather Update

Weather: moderate snow towards mid dat Wed. made up much of yesterdays snow with light snow starting near sunset. Then off and on light snow through the night before some clearing around 5 a.m. Total snow for the 24 hours is 6″ with a light 0.38″ of water with winters deepest of 33½” on the ground. Little to no wind with all this and moderating temperatures as Wed. high was 22F. Low so far today is the current +12F- quite a change from recent mornings. Partly cloudy now with a light wind.