Grand Mesa

Avalanche

Brandon Levy · Feb 14, 2022 · Grand Mesa

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Weather

Sunny and warm with increasing south, southwest wind at Skyway. No snow was moving and most snow surfaces were either sun crusted, wind pressed or had a thin wind skin.

Snowpack

The snow depth in non-wind effected terrain above the Cliffs avalanche area ranges from 140 to 160cms. There are 30cms of large-grained facets near the surface in sheltered locations. In most areas there is either a breakable sun crust on slopes that tilt southerly or a thin wind skin on the snow surface with the large-grained facets underneath. Near Cliffs #4 the snow depth was over 200cms above the start zone. There was a fair bit of complexity to the snow structure even on due north-facing slopes. Please see near-surface profile for more information.

Avalanche

None observed. There were a few LWa piles on McClure to the ditch when returning back to the Roaring Fork Valley