Colorado Weather Discussion Thread

**The SnowShow** · 02-07-2017, 02:11 PM

Coming down pretty good at the Basin. Wet snow but it's covering up the coral reef.

**North** · 02-07-2017, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by goldenboy

I love my avy center. Here's the current snowpack problem, as explained by Jenga. They crack me up.

ZG is legit and works super friggin' hard. The vids they've been putting out this year have been great.

**goldenboy** · 02-07-2017, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by North

ZG is legit and works super friggin' hard. The vids they've been putting out this year have been great.

Yep, super bummed that he's moving on to MT.

Snow was a little lighter than I would have liked in CB, sluffed off of everything steep. Hopefully it gets stickier as the storm goes on. Yeah, getting spoiled when I can complain about snow quality

**rmnpsplitter** · 02-07-2017, 02:39 PM

I had no idea that's what he was up to these days. Sounds like a pretty sweet gig. Guess that's what happens when you don't have Facebook...

**doebedoe** · 02-07-2017, 02:46 PM

With this, and Joel's talk of multiple storms near the end of Feburary I'm finally feeling like I might get good conditions for my CB trip. The last three years have been rough. (Yes I know, just go when it snows...unfortunately my SO likes planning further out than chasing snow.)

**blazes_boylan** · 02-07-2017, 05:04 PM

Damn, that's a long, narrow, scary ride down Big Eyes. Glad to hear no major injuries, but Damn!!

**The SnowShow** · 02-07-2017, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by ColMan

Someone got really lucky in Big Eyes.

http://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/ob...97&view=public

Crazy.

So from a learning perspective: what should he/she have done after getting down to the point where there was 18" of new and was feeling super uncomfortable, in a narrow couloir? Stop, transition (if possible) back to crampons and climb back out? Is that even possible?

**montanaskier** · 02-07-2017, 08:52 PM

I'm super conservative, but I wouldn't be skiing Big Eyes in Feb, no matter what kind of overall snowpack we have...too much loading and too much consequence for me.

**Name Redacted** · 02-07-2017, 09:06 PM

Originally Posted by montanaskier

I'm super conservative, but I wouldn't be skiing Big Eyes in Feb, no matter what kind of overall snowpack we have...too much loading and too much consequence for me.

So the date is more important than the snowpack?

**montanaskier** · 02-07-2017, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by shredgnar

So the date is more important than the snowpack?

For me, yes, I wouldn't trust a line like that until the spring. Just too big with too much consequence for my taste. I recognize that I'm conservative in that thinking and I'm totally ok with that. I'll add that just because it's "spring" doesn't mean I'd trust it necessarily then either.

**Lindahl** · 02-07-2017, 10:24 PM

By spring do you mean summer corn? Cuz right now its just as dangerous as it is in April/May...

**montanaskier** · 02-07-2017, 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by Lindahl

By spring do you mean summer corn? Cuz right now its just as dangerous as it is in April/May...

No I mean spring and I've dug enough this year to know how things are currently, just my conservative rule is no big, heavy, consequence lines in the winter. For that matter, since my son was born 5 years ago I'm not super interested in high consequence lines anytime. I've got a buddy who has a rule of never in the backcountry if the Rose is considerable. Different strokes and what not.

In weather news, it's pretty wet outside. Should be pretty good up high.

**Danno** · 02-07-2017, 11:13 PM

Originally Posted by Lindahl

By spring do you mean summer corn? Cuz right now its just as dangerous as it is in April/May...

April/May is a very vague measurement, sometimes it's just like winter then, sometimes the snow pack has consolidated. But when it has consolidated, though there are still dangers, they're more predictable, mostly a function of temperature and time. A mid-winter snow pack, even at "low" danger, still has buried layers and small variances of loading and weak layers. The overall danger may not be higher, but the predictability of that danger is different, and to have confidence that you have managed that danger requires more from the skier. I think that is what he's getting at.

**WTF is dat** · 02-07-2017, 11:32 PM

Snowing pretty good in summit county

**hatchgreenchile** · 02-08-2017, 08:05 AM

Call it luck, but it heavenly intervention, but its incredible that he made it out of the slide OK.
I'm with MontanaSkier on this one, no thanks. Just too burly for my taste mid-winter, regardless of what a county wide forecast says.

**Lindahl** · 02-08-2017, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by Danno

April/May is a very vague measurement, sometimes it's just like winter then, sometimes the snow pack has consolidated. But when it has consolidated, though there are still dangers, they're more predictable, mostly a function of temperature and time. A mid-winter snow pack, even at "low" danger, still has buried layers and small variances of loading and weak layers. The overall danger may not be higher, but the predictability of that danger is different, and to have confidence that you have managed that danger requires more from the skier. I think that is what he's getting at.

Usually April/May at elevation is still winter like. We usually don't have consolidation up high till mid to late May. Thats what I was saying. If you ski big lines in fresh snow in April/May, you're doing so because thats usually when our deep instabilities are no longer causing slides (save for extreme loading or free water). You could even say late March depending on location/year. We're lucky this year in that we're seeing the same sort of snowpack right now (if you know how to avoid the surface hoar). If you don't ski big lines in fresh snow in April/May, my argument is mute. Religion is cool and all, but is a bit too dogmatic for me. I prefer to be a bit more practical about it.

**montanaskier** · 02-08-2017, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by Lindahl

Usually April/May at elevation is still winter like. We usually don't have consolidation up high till mid to late May. Thats what I was saying. If you ski big lines in fresh snow in April/May, you're doing so because thats usually when our deep instabilities are no longer causing slides (save for extreme loading or free water). You could even say late March depending on location/year. We're lucky this year in that we're seeing the same sort of snowpack right now (if you know how to avoid the surface hoar). If you don't ski big lines in fresh snow in April/May, my argument is mute. Religion is cool and all, but is a bit too dogmatic for me. I prefer to be a bit more practical about it.

Religion has nothing to do with it and I wouldn't ski that line in fresh snow in April/May or July.

**uglymoney** · 02-08-2017, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by montanaskier

Religion has nothing to do with it and I wouldn't ski that line in fresh snow in April/May or July.

My guess is that if Lindahl ever has kids he will understand..it isn't a puzzle you are interested in anymore. I get it. I have a six year old.

**montanaskier** · 02-08-2017, 10:17 AM

He has kids and he's a good dude, juice just isn't worth the squeeze for me anymore.

**uglymoney** · 02-08-2017, 10:22 AM

Didn't know he had kids which makes my statement useless. I do know he is a way better skier and crazier than I am. I will go back to staying out of Colorado threads.

**Danno** · 02-08-2017, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by Lindahl

Usually April/May at elevation is still winter like. We usually don't have consolidation up high till mid to late May. Thats what I was saying. If you ski big lines in fresh snow in April/May, you're doing so because thats usually when our deep instabilities are no longer causing slides (save for extreme loading or free water). You could even say late March depending on location/year. We're lucky this year in that we're seeing the same sort of snowpack right now (if you know how to avoid the surface hoar). If you don't ski big lines in fresh snow in April/May, my argument is mute. Religion is cool and all, but is a bit too dogmatic for me. I prefer to be a bit more practical about it.

We're talking about different things, not religion. You're talking about skiing fresh powder whenever. I'm not, and as montanaskier said, he's not either. I wouldn't ski a big line like that unless the snowpack was consolidated and I was skiing corn (not "summer corn", I rarely ski in "summer", but spring corn does exist). Fresh powder is great, but in big lines, fresh powder creates danger even if the base is solid. It's simply about risk tolerance, not religion.

**simple** · 02-08-2017, 10:47 AM

You had better have more than an understanding of risk to go out in avalanche terrain right now.

**montanaskier** · 02-08-2017, 10:49 AM

Back to weather, all the ridges are stripped and it is whipping like crazy up high.

**simple** · 02-08-2017, 10:50 AM

But is it warm?

**Lindahl** · 02-08-2017, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by Danno

We're talking about different things, not religion. You're talking about skiing fresh powder whenever. I'm not, and as montanaskier said, he's not either. I wouldn't ski a big line like that unless the snowpack was consolidated and I was skiing corn (not "summer corn", I rarely ski in "summer", but spring corn does exist). Fresh powder is great, but in big lines, fresh powder creates danger even if the base is solid. It's simply about risk tolerance, not religion.

"By spring do you mean summer corn?" - Was asking him if he'd ski it in powder at any point in time (ie when you're only worried about the new snowfall). That line doesn't turn till corn till Summer.

And by religion I mean that one doesn't care if the state of the snowpack is relatively safe. Just that they refuse to ski certain lines until after a certain date, period - a dogmatic rather than practical approach.

But yeah, its all mute if you refuse to ski big lines in powder (or at all, period).