Always make sure you have a good beat on what the weather is supposed to be for that day or the duration of your trip. You could plan for a nice 40 degree day and then all of sudden a snow storm can roll in with a serious wind chill and cause dangerous conditions. I personally always plan for at least a potential 10-15 degree swing from the forecast. Always pack the essentials or what is needed for your type of adventure.
Weather can change in a heartbeat! That’s probably one of the most important things to remember. Spring time can be crazy in terms of weather. It can be beautiful and 70 degrees, then an hour later it’s snowing. You can always count on things going crazy in the spring. With the unstable weather, you have to be especially aware of terrain conditions. Snow packs can move from the rain, snow, flash floods, crevasse coverage becoming dangerously thin, landslides, rock slides from the melting snow, you name it! As much as you’re ready for the sun and warmth, please pack for all the potential situations.
THUNDERSTORMS! Those things are dangerous in the mountains especially if you are exposed or above tree line. Spending a good amount of time in Colorado, there are always people getting zapped above treeline during a thunderstorm. Whenever there is a news story of that happening, there is always the morbid joke Colorado natives make which is somewhere along the line of “Tourist”. The thunderstorms can literally come out of nowhere when you are in the mountains in the summertime. It can be sunny, barely any clouds, and then boom, a thunderstorm out of nowhere. If you do catch yourself in a thunderstorm above the treeline, remove everything metal off of you and take cover under a rock or anything available! You will be in the middle of a thundercloud! I have had friends say their electronics have started going haywire while in the storm.
Summertime is one of the best times to be in the mountains but always make sure you play it safe and follow the weather.
Like spring, whose main characteristic is change, prepare for the unexpected in fall! Fall can be one of the most gorgeous times to be in the mountains and I highly recommend it. From the fall foliage to just the general ambiance that only fall can provide. The recommendations for the season are very similar to spring, be prepared for anything and watch the weather accordingly.
You don’t have the melting snowpack like you do in spring which can cause a lot of issues but whatever snow pack there is, you can consider it very unstable. Many avalanche deaths occur in late fall, early winter. People see the first big snow and get that itch to take to the mountains and get that first tour in but please beware, all that fresh snow has not had a chance to settle.
This is just a brief coverage of what to expect during the seasons while in the mountains. We could dive much deeper but there are many resources you can explore that can cover all aspects and get to what is needed based on the sport. Now get in the mountains and enjoy them!
