Thread: Berthoud Pass 2011-2012 Observations, Conditions and Stoke

I'm pretty computer illiterate,and was trying to find the snow accumulation in the last 24 hrs at Berthoud.I've been looking at the snotel site and can't seem to find JUST accumulation.Any help is appreciated!

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/nwcc/sn...ays=7&state=co

Trace the hourly accumulations via the "Date," "Time" and "Snow Depth (inches)" columns. In the last 24hrs, it went from 9 to 8 inches (3:00 / 15:00 to 3:00 / 15:00 - 4:00 / 16:00 could not be calculated)

Thanks Temagami!I was actually looking at that and noticed the drop also.It's pretty sad when you end up with less snow after a storm than before,but I guess 100+mph will do that!

Have you read the last page? snow accumulation at berthoud with 100 mph winds may defy simple stats

just ripped the front side and found some nice little pow slashes in the trees. worth the hike. drove all the way from vail

Skiied both the East and West sides right above the parking lot on Sat am. Snow was thin and hard due to wind. Not very fun, but good for the first runs of the year. Excuse the cell phone quality pictures...

Dug some pits on Sunday. Overall, the snow cover is thin. There are large areas of wind loading on N to E aspects, mostly ENE at or above treeline, but also existing in isolated pockets down low, including cross-loads in gullies and couloirs. The snow pack is a mix of heavy windslabs, buried weak layers and loose facets. Be super careful and chose your terrain wisely.

Yesterday's tragedy in UT is a reminder that while an early season slide might not bury you, it will almost certainly hurt you, maybe even kill you.

Stay safe out there.

Anyone have any more info on this, reported today?

http://avalanche.state.co.us/obs/obs...hp?obs_id=9219

What do you want to know?

It had already slid by the time I arrived at 11:00am. It's a textbook start zone and one that slides pretty regularly. 1-3' crown on steep pillow just above Rush chute, not Nitro as reported. No skier tracks into it, but I could make out what looked like a boot pack above and to the N of the start zone. Ran on rocky bed surface. Toe of debris ran out the chute and onto the apron. Not a huge slide, but I bet that sucker ran fast. I dug a test pit just above and to the SW of the start zone. The windslab from the last few days is dense. There are a series of buried weak layers in the mid-snowpack and it's a facet fest down deep. Stability tests failed dramatically on the basal facets, but the windslab is what really made me nervous today. With shallow coverage, over the next few days we could easily see fracture characteristics like the fatal slide in Dry Gulch last year: started in shallow area and propagated big. Be very aware of your terrain and keep an eye out for cross-loaded gullies, deep drifts punctured by shallow spots, possible sympathetic releases, cliff areas, etc.

That what you were looking for?

Originally Posted by Pinner

Stability tests failed dramatically on the basal facets, but the windslab is what really made me nervous today. With shallow coverage, over the next few days we could easily see fracture characteristics like the fatal slide in Herman Gulch last year: started in shallow area and propagated big.

I think you mean Dry Gulch?:
http://avalanche.state.co.us/acc/acc...=225&accfm=inv

Here is the Video of Nov. 6th.
http://vimeo.com/32241993

Thanks, Pinner. Good info, appreciate the observations and analysis.

Gonna poke around butler tomorrow morning, prob be at the TH around 7am, may hike up Harrison to give my pathetic ass a whippin. Black Tundra, splitboard.

any beta on conditions? WP reported 6.5 so far which usually means 10~ at berthoud. still thinking it might be thin underneath though...

Heard from people thatdrove over say there is a lot more snow in WP than there was on Berthoud...

Originally Posted by HikeforTurns

Gonna poke around butler tomorrow morning, prob be at the TH around 7am, may hike up Harrison to give my pathetic ass a whippin. Black Tundra, splitboard.

Were you the dude that got stuck?

Floral Park sucked today.
But there were some good spots to be found.
Hold on boys, winters just around the corner!

Excuse me, correction.
There are many good spots to be found. Thanks to Brandy who showed us around a little bit today!

Originally Posted by Lindahl

Were you the dude that got stuck?

negative

Originally Posted by Wobby

Floral Park sucked today.
But there were some good spots to be found.
Hold on boys, winters just around the corner!

ski packing it for the rest of us?
probably a bit thin, no?
cool you got up there,
thx for the report

I went up to Berthoud and skied some laps with some guys from the resort. There was about 6-8 in most areas. It is still thin in areas but some are filing in. The Roll is in the 90s are not....

Ray on his new Hellbents

Collin

Dane on the Roll

A random guy mike tagging along..

Our handy work

Christ. Ray is the biggest photo slut in the valley.

edit: and I'm jealous.

I thought he was just a slut... But I guess he skis good enough to take some photos too. Wish I coulda made it out on that one!

Any reports on the skier triggered slide CAIC is mentioning on FB? Supposedly on a Northeast aspect above treeline by No Name Peak. Interested to see what terrain this was along that ridge as there are some widely varying areas of terrain in that area ranging from low angle to more avalanche prone slopes.

"snowboarder triggered one of these slabs yesterday in the Berthoud Pass area on an above treeline northeast aspect on No Name Peak. The slide was approximately 75 feet wide, 2 to 3 feet thick, ran 250 vertical feet, and broke to the ground." according to caic