Boletín de aludes

Southeast Mountains

Crested Butte Avalanche Center
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Peligro de aludes

Tue
Alta montaña
3 · Notable
Límite del bosque
3 · Notable
Bajo el límite
3 · Notable
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Desactualizado: este boletín caducó 2 years ago. Estás viendo condiciones pasadas, no el boletín vigente.

Lo esencial

Recent human-triggered avalanches and continued signs of instability point to dangerous and tricky conditions in the Southeast Mountains.  Avalanches can break in the upper snowpack or deeply near the ground.  Choose conservative terrain and slope angles to manage the hazard.  Lower elevation southerly slopes have a less problematic snowpack but you should monitor snow surfaces given the warm weather and move to a cooler snowpack if you find more than a few inches of wet snow.

Problemas de aludes

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alta montaña
    • Límite del bosque
    • Bajo el límite del bosque
    Probabilidad
    Likely
    Tamaño
    2–3

    The most prominent and active weak layers are, buried surface hoar and facets, located a couple feet deep on the north half of the compass. There is also a smaller potential for avalanches to break on faceted crust layers on some higher, southerly aspects, or depth hoar layers near the ground.  Persistent slab avalanches can be remotely triggered from low-angle terrain and break deeper and wider than you might expect.  Avalanches breaking into old weak layers are unlikely on low elevation, southerly aspects.  Slope angles consistently less than 30 degrees away from runout zones are a reliable way to avoid the problem.

    This large avalanche was remotely triggered in West Brush Creek on Thursday.

    Photo: Evan Ross

  • Loose Wet

    • Alta montaña
    • Límite del bosque
    • Bajo el límite del bosque
    Probabilidad
    Possible
    Tamaño
    1–1.5

    As snow surfaces warm, expect the potential for wet avalanche activity to increase.  Steep slopes with cliffs and rock outcross will produce the most avalanche activity as those rocks absorb more heat and transfer that heat into the snow.  In most cases, this avalanche activity will be small, easy to identify, and avoidable.  Some uncertainty exists about loose avalanches as the temperature climbs a few degrees warmer than Sunday, but cloud-over and southwest winds counteract and possibly keep surfaces cooler.  Keep an eye out for wet avalanche activity today and consider moving to colder aspects as steep and sunny slopes heat up through the day.

    A recent Wet Loose avalanche on Gothic Mountain.

    Photo: Evan Ross

Avalanche Discussion

The Persistent Slab problem is the primary issue on Monday.  There is a notable difference in the likelihood of triggering a Persistent Slab between the Northwest and Southeast Mountains.  In the Northwest Mountains, the snowpack is commonly 2 meters or deeper.  It is harder to trigger an avalanche with a deep and uniform depth snowpack, but there are places where the snowpack thins, and triggered avalanches become more concerning.  Wind-eroded, rocky terrain, or slopes that previously avalanched this winter will have shallower than normal snowpacks.  The perfect case and point is the avalanche activity from the west side of Mount Baldy on Friday.  Two dangerous avalanches failed in a generally shallow and variable snowpack (1,2) due to wind erosion on westerly aspects.  Take a moment to watch the video in this observation and consider the magnitude and dire consequence of releasing a Persistent Slab.  Steer clear of slopes where you expect to encounter a shallower snowpack and trigger points.  Warming temperatures may slightly increase the risk of natural cornice fall which could act as a trigger for a dangerous slab avalanche.

In the Southeast Mountains, the snowpack is generally shallower with depths commonly less than 2 meters.  A shallower snowpack increases the chance of you impacting weak layers and releasing a deadly avalanche.  Recent avalanche activity points to this increased risk with dangerous remotely triggered avalanches on Double Top, West Brush Creek, and an accident just outside the Southeast Mountains zone near Italian Mountain.  Take a look at this video from Double Top to get a better visual on the increased risk of riding steep terrain in a zone with a shallower snowpack.  On Saturday, a group on Carbon Peak experienced a large collapse in north-facing terrain that "was felt between our group almost 200m apart".  Take a conservative approach to your terrain selection in the Southeast Mountains particularly in areas with less than 2 meters total depth (this is much of the Southeast Mountains).  Don't expect warning signs before releasing a dangerous avalanche and consider the potential of remote-triggering a slope from below.

CBAC Event:  Don't forget the 50th Al Johnson Race is this Saturday, March 17th.  Registration and information can be found at cbavalanchecenter.org.  All proceeds to benefit the CBAC.

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