Aspen
SnowpackJewel Campbell · Mar 17, 2025 · Grand Mesa
Weather
Temperatures were warm, near freezing in the morning and rising above 40 in the afternoon. Sustained moderate wind with strong gusts was coming from the west and southwest all day. Skies were overcast and the clouds were low and active.
Snowpack
Snow on east aspects below tree line was 100cm deep and had a serious melt-freeze crust under the foot of recent new snow. From probing around a bit, it felt like water had percolated and refrozen through the upper half of the snowpack. West aspects below tree line were scraped of snow and had discontinuous coverage. The wind was blowing snow onto east slopes and forming cornices on east ridges. North aspects below tree line were 150cm deep and I found surface hoar in sheltered areas. The foot of snow from the weekend was breaking down and sitting over a melt-freeze crust. Below that the previous storm from the first week of March was firm and forming small rounds. This layer broke but did not propagate in snowpack tests and sat on a melt-freeze crust as well. After this the snow dried out and there were facets in various forms all the way to the ground. Generally speaking, all these layers were quite firm. Although the interfaces were distinct, they were not very reactive in snowpack tests. (My steep test slopes did not break or propagate either.) Warm temperatures and weight seem to have encouraged bonding between grains. However, the lower half of the snowpack was still made of persistent weak grains.