Front Range
SnowpackIan Fowler · Apr 3, 2025 · Front Range
Weather
It did not feel like April. It was windy from the east and cold with blowing snow and very little visibility above treeline.
Snowpack
Near treeline and above treeline the surface was about 30cm of soft, slightly wind-affected snow. This snow was right side up and was well bonded to layers below (which felt like mostly pencil-hard snow). There was very little wind-slab development, and with strong easterly winds the snow was blowing away from previously loaded aspects. At the top of a steep northeasterly slope, we did avoid one area of firmer hard slab that rolled over steeply, but this was the only obvious windslab we observed. At around 11600-feet on a northerly aspect we found a crust that was buried about 30-40cm deep. This is most likely a raincrust or melt-freeze crust from the warm up at the end of March. Although this layer was unreactive it will be worth watching to see if it develops any facets around it.