Avalanches late November early December

[DoctorBreaks]

Hey everyone, I was wondering how average avalanche conditions are at that time of year? Is it getting to the time of year where avalanches are common? I wanted to take Thanksgiving break off and go climb.
Thanks!

[Buckie06]

you want to do snow climbs up couloirs, or just hiking with the possibility of snow being on the trail?

[DoctorBreaks]

you want to do snow climbs up couloirs, or just hiking with the possibility of snow being on the trail?

I wanted to do just a few Sawatch range 14ers.

[EatinHardtack]

Yes that time of year you will want your avalanche hat on.

[SkaredShtles]

http://avalanche.state.co.us/accidents/colorado/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can search for yourself by date...

[DoctorBreaks]

http://avalanche.state.co.us/accidents/colorado/

You can search for yourself by date...

Scary. Looks like most accidents from 2001 to 2014 occured from January to April. Although there were accidents as early as October....

[EatinHardtack]

CAIC website will be one of your best friends if you go into the hills over the snowy months. Learn as much as you can and don't go alone.

[SkaredShtles]

http://avalanche.state.co.us/accidents/colorado/

You can search for yourself by date...

Scary. Looks like most accidents from 2001 to 2014 occured from January to April. Although there were accidents as early as October....

Yup - and don't plan on any "average conditions" information to be of much use.

[Scott P]

Hey everyone, I was wondering how average avalanche conditions are at that time of year?

I don't know if there is a useful average for that time of year.

Some years the avalanche danger is very low and sometimes it is very high. That time of year tends to be really unpredictable (even more so than later in the season) since some years don't have much snow on the ground yet and other years there is already a deep snowpack which at that time of year will surly be fresh.

In the last 11 years, I've been to that general area three times over Thanksgiving weekend specifically (plus several other times in the same general time of year. For Thanksgiving weekend 2003 (Mt Elbert) avalanche conditions were moderate and there was a good snowpack, but the snowpack had some time to stabilize (we took a ridge route with low avalanche danger). Thanksgiving 2009 (Buckeye Peak) there wasn't much snow around at all and avalanche danger was low. The approaches were somewhat of a pain since there was a mix of mud, dry ground, and snow and you needed snowshoes part of the time and then had to switch back to taking them off (skis would have been a nightmare). The next year, Thanksgiving 2010 (North Sugarloaf) avalanche conditions were very high and you wanted to stick to ridgelines or below timberline. There was a very deep, fresh, and unstable snowpack.

I think it would be hard to come up with a useful average.

Generally speaking, at that time of year, if the weather has been dry, avalanche conditions tend to be low. If there has been a lot of fresh snow, avalanche conditions can be really high in areas that tend to accumulate a lot of snow. Also, generally speaking, at that time of year digging a snowpit isn't always that useful since the snowpack hasn't built up layers yet. Generally speaking, most avalanches that time of year tend to be power avalanches rather than slab avalanches.

[Monster5]

Oi. Avy hazard level is irrelevant if you choose an avy safe route and know how to stay on it. Avy safe routes and beta are available on most of the Sawatch, especially that time of year, barring the major anomalies.

[DoctorBreaks]

So many great responses! I'm going to be taking my avalanche awareness course here soon and I do plan on sticking to avalanche safe routes. Great to know that at that time of the year if it's been a fairly dry year I should be good. What I'm gathering is that if there is a lot of fresh snow avalanche danger is high if there isn't much snow it's low. That and how fresh the snow is. Like if it just snowed a foot probably not a good idea to go that weekend? I'm a total amateur so all this info helps out a lot! This will be my first winter in the mountains. I got to CO last September.

Thanks again everyone!

[cheeseburglar]

My opinion is that time of year sucks for skiing because any slope that has accumulated enough snow has avy danger.
But it is a fun time of year to wander up Sawatch ridges, especially if you want to test out your ability to hike in windy conditions.