Front Range
SnowpackJoe Ambrosich · Jan 29, 2016 · Front Range
Weather
Sunny and warm conditions existed with minimal wind at the peak. The wind was around 10-20 miles an hour at the pit location. The temperature was around 25 F where the pit was constructed. The time of day was around 10AM MST and the elevation was 12000 feet. During the descent the temperatures were higher and back at the car around 12PM the temperature was 35 F.
Snowpack
During the ascent we observed no whoompfs. The snow pack showed three distinct layers. From top to bottom. Layer 1 was recently wind drifted snow around 5 inches deep. During the isolated block test this layer slid off while isolating the block. The density of the snow was light but it did leave a clean shear at the interface with the next layer. This can be seen in the first picture. Layer 2 was around 10 inches thick and was very dense. When applying blunt force to the shovel handle the second layer did not brake until 2 full blows with the entire shovel as if an axe was swung down at the block. The shear was quite clean once it did fracture (Q2). Layer 3 was around 10 inches thick and had the same behavior as layer 2 but three blows were required to fracture the layer. This shear was clean as well. No faceting was observed in any layer and once we reached 5 feet deep we did not dig further into the snowpack. The snowpack was very deep on this aspect due to storm and wind loading. This analysis showed that breaking the layers would be difficult but if a slide was triggered it could be large and step down through the layers. This is consistent with the other avalanche observations on CAIC. Travelers should remain vigilant of any wind layers and storm snow coming this weekend and remember, even though the layers are quite solid the shears were clean, that there are layers below.