Front Range

Avalanche

Amanda Loughlin · Jan 20, 2024 · Front Range

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Weather

Warm, scattered becoming few, no precipitation, calm.

Snowpack

I was close to ringing water out of the snow on south aspect below treeline at 10:40am this morning. Solar aspects formed a sun crust and eastern aspects below and near treeline showed surface hoar or wind slab. I had several rumbling collapses on east aspects. Four snowpits dug on aspects northeast through southeast all showed either surface hoar, a sun crust, or wind skin over the recent storm snow, on top of a slab that was about 50 cm thick, on top of a combination of melt freeze crust and 20 to 30cm of depth hoar. An Extended Column Test (ECT) on east aspect near treeline produced ECTX initially. On the second ECT, it produced ECTP22@ 20cm on the layer of depth hoar.

Avalanche

Observed one natural D1.5 on northeast aspect on Mount Parnassus. Observed dry loose D1s on northeast aspect on Woods Mountain. Both above treeline.