Front Range
SnowpackIan Fowler · Jan 26, 2023 · Front Range
Weather
WINDY. Strong westerly and northwesterly winds with intense blowing. The risk of frost nip was real!
Snowpack
We observed into the near treeline elevation band and mostly on north through east facing slopes. Extensive drifting was occuring and most test slopes over 35 degrees were cracking and avalanching with minimal effort. The slabs were around 10 to 12 inches at the time and ranged from fist hard to 1finger. Below treeline we were able to observe the snowpack in a more sheltered location. Snowdepths ranged from around 150cm to 200cm. On the surface there was a layer cake of storm and wind events. 55cm below the surface was a layer of Near Surface Facets that were rounding and gave resistant results or breaks in compression test. Below that was pencil hard snow which when probed felt like it extended all the way to the ground.