Front Range
SnowpackChris Johnson · Apr 16, 2013 · Front Range
Weather
Break in the snow fall no wind to speak of viability was from a low of 1 mile upto about 3 miles snow began again by end of tour And was heavy when we returned to the car
Snowpack
On the way up we saw where many natural slides had occur on slopes greater than 50 degrees nothing was seen on slopes under 42ish. We experienced no slides in this area from skier weight. It should be noted this is a popular gully so skier compaction is a factor in this snow pack. 3/4 of the way up we stopped to dig a pot on a mostly south east slope in the trees. The most recent storm we very viable as was the Sunday night freeze event. Below that we the old snow that had hardened with a small sugar layer below. Rusch block showed great deal of stability both in the current storm cycle as well as bonding with the older snow pack. Failure did not occur either In the current Storm layer nor in the sugar layer below the last dry spell layer.