Observations

Front Range: Peak 3-4

Red flags (obvious signs of instability):

• Significant “whumph” (collapse) at top of Peak 4 (~4250′) heavily wind loaded WSW aspect
• Significant shooting crack near where Peak 4 gully transitions to west face (~3800′ WSW aspect)

Weather:

• Mostly cloudy (a bit of very light snow around 4pm) with temps in the mid 20s and light SE wind

Surface conditions:

• Highly variable: very thin snow cover, leeward terrain features and deposition areas hold what little snow there is, moist powder on wind slab, breakable wind slab, supportable wind slab, patches of boilerplate

Snowpack:

• Generally very thin and weak: very pronounced, faceted base with one or more layers of wind slab (varying hardness)

Powerline Valley:

Peak 4: