Front Range
AvalancheJason Konigsberg, Mike Cooperstein · Mar 28, 2016 · Front Range
Weather
Cloud cover increased throughout the day from clear in the morning to overcast in the afternoon. Winds were calm in the basin and light with a few moderate gusts at ridgetop. Very little snow was being transported today. Temperatures were around freezing at 12000 ft. Near and below treeline temperatures reached into the mid to high 30's F.
Snowpack
Snow surface is a mix of melt-freeze crusts and hard slabs of wind-drifted and wind-packed snow. The snow surface on northerly, sheltered aspects is mostly decomposed frag. The snow depth on northerly aspects is over 2 meters in places we measured. There were no distinguishable persistent weak layers that would be cause for concern and no propagation in extended column tests. Wind slabs that formed yesterday were thin and stubborn. Minor cracking observed in wind-drifted snow.
Avalanche
No avalanches observed in the Jones Pass basin. We saw debris from a large avalanche in the Woods Creek area. We were not able to make out any other characteristics of this avalanche. A large (D2) recent Wind Slab avalanche was observed in Bobtail Creek which is the basin on the north-side of Hagar Mountain.