Front Range
SnowpackIan Fowler · Dec 15, 2025 · Front Range
Weather
Today was a beautiful day in the James Peak Wilderness. The winds were light or calm, and I was able to dig a snow profile without it being refilled as I went. Temps at the truck in the morning were 40 degrees.
Snowpack
Below treeline the snowpack is all 4fingers hardness or less. It was supportive to skis but I could easily push my pole to the ground. Snow height was about 30-40cm. Near treeline had two distinct bands. Lower near treeline had about 40 to 60cm of snow with a suncrust at the surface and a mid-pack that was faceting and basal weakness. I was getting hard propagating results on ECT. Higher in the near treeline band the surface had been ravaged by the wind with hard slabs and satrugi abounding. Above treeline on north through east to southeast facing slopes, variability was the only predictable element in the snowpack. Weak layers were present in some areas, and a few feet away, there were none. Slopes that look appealing to ski with no rocks have about 70 to 100cm of coverage, with drifts already up to 2 meters deep in some areas. Where the snowpack was less than 1 meter the base appeared to be faceting but in deeper areas there were no weak layers.