Interesting report from backcountry skiers who were out today in the Elk Mountains of central Colorado. Wintry storm 7 (WS7)dropped up to a foot of fresh, but the snow bonded so poorly in places that it was sluffing and point releasing at the slightest touch of a ski, yet doing do with so with little or no slab avalanche formation. Probably a combination of an inverse density storm (heavy snow on top of light), with sliding surface provided by an autumn snowpack with a melt/freeze crust, or else re-crystallized powder on the autumn surface made a good slide layer. It’ll be interesting to see how things bond.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
