Winter has extended itself in this neck of the woods with a phenomenal storm two weeks ago (50cm in 12hrs!) and continued flurries and cool temps since. The warm temperatures will come in the Alpine and beware that things can change fast!


photo by James MartinIf you are playing in the Rockies remember that October rain crust that haunted for much of the season - that is broken down into some rotten snow at the base of the snowpack. In the Golden area, many of this winter's instabilities (old surface hoar/facet/crust layers)have probably worked themselves out, but there are large slab out there from this previous storm. The associated photo shows the depth that avalanches can still fail to. It is the time of year when little confidence should be given to cornices (standing on them or travelling below) on warm days. In the Rockies, spring time is generally the time of year to ski big lines. Remember that many of those long sought-after lines have small windows in which to be skied. Some years those windows don't exist at all on some lines. Another spring -time event is the climax avalanche - the whole snowpack avalanching. If things heat up enough and cause enough stress on any weakness at the base of the snowpack, then large, full depth avalanches may occur. Really think about how smooth the ground cover is and if there may be enough rotten snow at the base.

We hope you found the site informative this winter and we sincerely thank all those reading, watching, and contributing. One of our goals is to help folks make informed decisions and keep the riding safe. If we helped that happen in the least, then we are stoked.