Colorado Gulch - Croy Canyon

This was a short tour to fulfill a media request. We drove to look at the skier-triggered slide out Croy Canyon and then did a short tour in Colorado Gulch. The snowpack at lower elevations ranges from nearly nothing to the scenario shown in the pit photo. There are several shaded, steep, cross-loaded features in Croy Canyon where triggering a Persistent Slab avalanche seems likely.

Collapse of 60 cm slab (since 2/25) in facets above a thick, fairly strong, basal layer. At low elevations, I suspect this setup is mostly confined to cross-loaded NW-N-NE facing slopes that held enough snow through early-season rain events and heat waves.