Front Range
SnowpackRyan Zarter · Jan 3, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
FEW clouds, temps around 20F, calm to very light winds.
Snowpack
I observed a snow surface that was either faceted or blanketed with surface hoar almost everywhere I traveled today. Features that are usually pasted with bulletproof, wind-deposited snow have faceted to the point where travel through the sea of sastrugi at ridgetop was actually quite pleasant. South and southeast aspects near treeline have a thin, decomposing melt-freeze crust under the surface hoar/top few centimeters of facets. I dug on a southeast aspect above treeline and found a structure similar to what we've been seeing around the northern mountains, with a somewhat weak interface in the upper snowpack and another weak interface in the basal facets. ECTN results at the upper interface, moderate ECTP results at the lower interface.