A flurry or two from last night helped lay down an inch of new snow, but the more welcome news is the winds have finally backed off. Even along the high ridges they're light and variable, blowing 5-10 mph. Temperatures are in the low to mid 20's and skies are mostly cloudy. Riding and turning options remain limited to grassy meadows and rock free roads.
Ted was near Gold Hill yesterday and JG near Wolf Creek Pass. You can find their excellent trip reports here.
Click here for current winds, temperatures, and snowfall throughout the range.
Winds have raked the ridges clean....
forming fat drifts like this...
which will be sensitive to the additional weight of a rider today.
On Friday, Cody and I noticed this slide which broke 3' deep and 300' wide on a steep, heavily wind loaded, northwest facing slope in Wolf Creek Bowl. The avalanche occurred naturally on Friday morning as a result of the strong east winds.
As we approached the ridge the investigate the natural avalanche, we triggered this slide from about 100' away. Same characteristics, both breaking to the ground on weak October snow.
More details can be found here.