Yesterday afternoon, I drove home from the front range. As I came down the West side of Vail pass I was looking up at the “Rigid Designator” (a big WI-5 ice climb, that I once did in my youth) and to the right of it is the Artichoke/Fang ice formation. I thought to myself that I was surprised that the Artichoke and Fang had not connected up yet this season, when suddenly the Fang formation fell away from the cliff and stabbed into the top of the Artichoke. There was a really BIG shower of ice chunks. The section of the Fang that fell I’d estimate to be 20 – 25’ in length. I couldn’t tell (because I was driving 65 mph) if anyone was on the formation. I said a little pray and thought of the day when the 19th Hole ice fall fell away from the wall and killed a guy back in the 80’s. If anyone hears anything about yesterday's “avalanche” let me know. It happened at 1622 hrs and the temperature on the highway was 35 degrees f.
