Front Range
SnowpackNate Pearson · Dec 18, 2016 · Front Range
Weather
Near treeline on St. Vrain Mountain - East Facing - 11,500 ft. Consistent winds in the 10-15 mph range with gusts up to 25-30 (guesses, not actual measurements). There was a considerable amount of snow being transported by the wind, so much so that at points the clouds of flying snow blocked out the sun.
Snowpack
As we neared treeline the snow beneath our feet hardened significantly and began to sound hollow. It even supported our full weight (I weigh 225 without any of my gear on) at some points. We also began hearing whoomfs and seeing cracks shooting out from our feet - had the terrain not been in the 20-25 degree range we would have turned around immediately. Finally, at our highest point, we dug a snowpit (~11,500, east facing). We found about 60cm of pencil hard wind slab on top of ~8-10 cm of fist strength snow. There was another finger hard layer beneath the weaker snow, but we did not dig to the ground to see what else may have been there to find. As we suspected, the thick windslab was easily reactive against the weaker layer beneath it (ECTP4 - Q2). Although we were concerned with what we saw, the terrain we were in was mellow and we enjoyed our turns all the way back to the car - hope this is helpful!