Coneys

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 01/04/2016
Name: Ellie Southworth
Subject: Coneys
Aspect: East
Elevation: 10,330 ft

Avalanches:
Weather: Mostly sunny in the morning with increasing clouds. -1° at 230pm at 10,330 feet.
Snowpack: HS around 100 cm at 10,330 feet with well developed facets on the bottom 35 cm and a 65 cm cohesive slab on top. The bottom half of the slab was P and 1F hardness softening to 4F in the upper 15-20 cm.

We skied a 29° slope and observed no signs of instability while skiing but observed a collapse while we were walking around our pit area. ECTP 18 SC failing on facets 45 cm from the ground.

Irwin Tenure

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/04/2016
Name: Irwin Guides
Subject: Irwin Tenure
Aspect: West
Elevation: 10,000-12,000

Avalanches:
Weather: Warm clear morning with high temp of 36F, clouded up slowly throughout the day.
Snowpack: HS between 20-100cm’s with an average of 60cm’s and most 4F hardness through out. Thin shallow areas all faceted 2-3mm. Slab feels pretty isolated in loaded terrain features. Little to no cracking on big
shots, just peeling the onion on surface snow but roughing up the surface pretty well.

Castle Valley L & R: Hand shots and 9£ airblasts produced isolated wind slab
pockets of rock bands and shallow dribblers running mostly full track. Slab isolated
and mostly shallow soft snow 40-50cm’s F to 4F. Debris roughing up surfaces nicely
for next storm

Mount Baldy

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 01/04/2016
Name: Ian Havlick
Subject: Mount Baldy
Aspect: East, South East, South, South West, West
Elevation: 9200-12000

Avalanches:
Weather: Increasing clouds in PM, above freezing temps NTL, light southerly wind near treeline.
Snowpack: no signs of instability today. first time in deeper part of zone since before xmas. remarkably different feeling snowpack compared to Gothic/Brush/Cement. Deep and stable. Widespread surface hoar at all elevations, moistening southerly slopes and crust forming with increasing clouds early afternoon. Small dry loose avalanches off steep terrain in Pittsburg area, minimal cornice development considering almost mid january. tracks on steeper slopes.

Snodgrass/Gothic

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 01/04/2016
Name: Donny Roth
Subject: Snodgrass/Gothic
Aspect: East, South East, South, South West, West
Elevation: 9500-11200

Avalanches:
Weather: Increasing clouds in PM, high temp of +3ºC @ 12:00 @ 10,400’, Calm all day
Snowpack: No signs of instabilities all day; SkiPen around 5 to 10cm on average while skinning; surface was moist on south aspects, SH in the shade. South aspect between 10,800’ and 11,200’ had an HS 90 to 100 cm with the bottom 20cm being well developed facets and upper 70cm being a cohesive slab that had more resistance in the bottom. This was the most concerning snow I found all day and we worked low-angle terrain in the trees. Moving to the east, we found a slope that had avalanched previously. There was an average HS of 50cm, 4F snow that was mostly stronger at the bottom with the thin crust and a thin layer of facets under it. We skied a short 35º pitch and then it mellowed to lower 30s. We had no signs of instabilities.

Old Fractures

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 01/03/2016
Name: Pete Sowar
Subject: Old Fractures
Aspect:
Elevation: 10-13,000
“fresh crack party that skied slope possibly triggered or did not notice”

Irwin Tenure

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/03/2016
Name: Irwin Guides
Subject: Irwin Tenure
Aspect: West
Elevation: 10,000-12,000

Avalanches: Shallow wind slabs D1 in Lone Wolf,
nothing of note. Field of Screams had 2 big releases. 1 on a 9£ jug in the middle of
gut. SS-AE-R2-D2-O/G running on the facets at the bottom. Almost a hard slab as
there were some bigger chunks, but flowed like a SS. Second one went on a 20£
airblast above the crown in the hangfire. SS-AB-R2-D2-O/G. Crown depth extremely
variable from 6” to 4’
Weather:
Snowpack:

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Red Lady Bowl

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/03/2016
Name: Donny Roth
Subject: Red Lady Bowl
Aspect: East, South East
Elevation: 10,000-12,400

Avalanches:
Weather: Increasing clouds throughout day, strongest solar in a while in early afternoon, no wind, temps in 20s for most of day.
Snowpack: No signs of instabilities. SkiPen around 10cm while ascending, 20cm while descending. SH in all the usual places. Surface snow was moist on steeper, southern aspects.

Baldy

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 01/03/2016
Name: than
Subject: Baldy
Aspect: South
Elevation: ATL

Avalanches: nothing new observed
Weather: No wind, warm up high
Snowpack: ski pen 8 inches, skied south bowl, boot top goodness. One minor collapse as third of three skiers was cutting across top of bowl

Ruby Peak

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/02/2016
Name: Evan Ross
Subject: Ruby Range
Aspect: South East, South
Elevation: 12,600-10,600
Weather: Clear becoming overcast with high thin clouds. Calm wind. Warming temps compared to the last several days.
Snowpack: HS was generally around 70-90cm up to about 12,000ft where the snowpack became much deeper in starting zones. A pit at 12,150 on a south aspect (attached) didn’t produce any results on the Christmas Storm Interface. Snowpack structure mostly felt the same through probing on other slopes traveled, just with shallower HS.

Another south aspect ever so slightly west of the previous had a very fat, or loaded start zone that was avoided.

Avalanches: During the Christmas natural cycle, the south bowl on the east side of the divider rip, avalanched naturally wall to wall from about 1/3 of the way down the track, at the slopes steepest slope angeles. The south bowl on the west side of the divider rib had also released naturally during the same storm with about 3/4th of the start zone pulling out from what looked like westerly wind loading. Both of these crowns are now nearly filled in and difficult to see.

20160102-Ruby

Paradise Divide

CB Avalanche Center2015-16 Observations

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 01/02/2016
Name: Steve Banks
Subject: Paradise Divide
Aspect:
Elevation:

Avalanches:
Weather:
Snowpack: Skied on a south-southwest aspect slopes 30-35 degrees with no current signs of instability. Thermometer was broken, but very cold in the morning and warmed nicely in the sun in the afternoon. Warm enough for the snow to get a little moist, but I don’t think it will have a crust tomorrow. Winds were light to non-existent from the west and the temperature quickly plummeted again as the sun went down.
Probing showed 150-170 cm average depth with a consistent snow pack and it seemed there was little in the way of basel weaknesses on this sunny slope. At higher elevations it felt as though there were older crusts in the snowpack, but they were not super pronounced. Good quality, supportive skiing with a ski pen around boot top and boot pen to the knee.
Lots of small slides from the light snow earlier in the week. All D-1’s, sluffy or very shallow slabs, but widespread on N-E aspects in steeper windloaded areas.