Front Range
SnowpackMike Cooperstein · Dec 20, 2016 · Front Range
Weather
Nice day with good visibility. Started off mostly clear, but by 1:00pm clouds started to roll in. Temperatures were in the mid 20's F and winds were moderate from the southwest and west.
Snowpack
In the deeper gullies and wind-drifted areas the snowpack ranges from 130-150cm. There is a wind crust over most of the area near and above treeline. Under the wind crust is a 30cm fist hard layer of broken and decomposing stellar crystals. There is 25cm layer of one finger wind slab. The only notable layer in the mid-pack is a thin layer of graupel at around 75cm from the ground. This layer was nonreactive in snowpack tests. There is a thick consolidated slab below 75cm. At about 35cm from the ground there is a fist hard layer of faceted crystals. Below this there is a layer of depth hoar and then hard depth hoar at the ground. Snowpack test results did not effect the faceted layers deeper in the snowpack. On the margins of the wind-drifted areas and at the edges of the gullies, where the snowpack is thinner there is a wind crust over depth hoar. These are the areas where someone is most likely to trigger a large dangerous avalanche.