106 | Berthoud Pass, Colorado

Since being introduced to the backcountry last year, I've made about 40 trips outside the resorts - only twice previously was I with a group that backed out of something. The first was at Grizzly Gulch where sugar powder was our enemy, and the second was at James Peak where the snow felt unsupportable. Today, JJ and I backed away from a trip to No Name with instant reaffirmation of our decision.


Below is a topo map of Berthoud Pass with areas in red highlighting avalanche activity and areas marked by black arrows highlighting where we skied:




We arrived at the pass shortly after 7am and were the first group to ascend up the west side towards the top of No Name. Along the way, we noted new snow totals were around 6" but as we reached treeline, none of it was bonding to the pre-existing layer underneath. In fact, while traversing across a 25-degree slope, the new snow was sluffing off rather easily hinting towards similar conditions above treeline. Then as we approached the base of Russell, we saw a large east-facing slide off Current Creek Bench that was roughly 200' wide and 500' long with large debris at the base.








Given that No Name has a similar elevation and aspect (nevermind with a steeper slope) and the lack of bonding of new snow, we immediately decided against going further up and instead turned around and headed back towards Lift Gully. Everything we saw were crystal clear signs of what appropriate action we should take and we followed accordingly. It wasn't until later, was our decision painted right before our eyes.


Ultimately, we scored first tracks down Lift Gully and went back for a second lap before heading over to the east side into Floral Park.


Here's JJ scoring some fresh snow:




Carol soon follows with similar results:




My turn at a little game called "Attack, Slash, and Destroy!"







Click here to view more pictures and in larger size.


As you can see, the snow was super soft and this was a much greater alternative to dying. After our second lap, the area was tracked-out so we headed over to Floral Park where we thought the snow would be equally good. While there were some soft pockets of fresh, we did find more than the occasional top of layer of crap and some instability. More importantly, before dropping, our eyes glued far into the west we were saw avalanche activity on No Name encompassing the entire terrain we would have considered skiing. While the slides weren't as large as what we saw on Current Creek Bench, it was propagated by small cornice drops which further suggests that a group of four skiers descending would have caused something more dramatic. We quickly took comfort in our choice to back out and were actually very glad to see activity down a face we wanted to ski. Not too often does one back out of a line only to see immediate confirmation on what was the smart choice. Today, we made the smart choice and get to live another day.