Avalanche Weekly Summary - November 7, 2024
Northern Mountains
The Northern Mountains— the Front Range in particular—saw the most avalanche activity in the last week with 28 avalanches reported—4 of those were human-triggered. Two people were caught in avalanches. In one incident, a skier was caught in a small avalanche on Bald Mountain east of Breckenridge. In another more serious incident, a skier was caught, carried, partially buried, and injured in an avalanche on a north-facing slope on Berthoud Pass.
Central Mountains
In the Central Mountains, avalanche activity has tapered off dramatically since Thanksgiving. No large avalanches ran in the past week—only a few small slab avalanches during Friday’s wind event, a few loose avalanches, and one small intentionally skier-triggered slab on Wednesday. A weakening snowpack means the danger is decreasing in this area.
Southern Mountains
Avalanche activity tapered off dramatically since Thanksgiving, following the large natural cycle before Thanksgiving, with only three avalanches reported in the past week.
Heading into the weekend
With clear skies, no precipitation, and mild winds, the avalanche danger is easing statewide and it’s getting harder each day to trigger avalanches. Although the danger is decreasing, you can still trigger a large avalanche in specific areas where you find a supportive slab above a prominent weak layer. Northerly and easterly slopes near treeline harbor the most reactive slab over weak layer combination. Avoid steep slopes where supportive slabs rest on buried layers of weak snow.
