Grand Mesa
SnowpackMatt Huber · Dec 21, 2019 · Grand Mesa
Weather
Warm and sunny with no visible blowing snow on ridgelines. The snow surface warmed enough on the way out to become moist and sticking to the bottom of skis
Snowpack
The overall snow depth below treeline is generally around 80 cm. The top 15 cm is cohesionless 1 mm facets that you can easily initiate Loose Dry avalanches in steep terrain greater than 35 degrees. As the temperatures climbed during the day, Loose Dry sluffing became limited to cool, shady slopes. The mid-pack is losing structure and becoming less supportive, ski penetration is down to the depth hoar in most places but still producing propagating Extended Column Test scores of 14 at the depth hoar. Two layers of fragmented surface hoar are visible at 35cm and 45 cm from the ground, neither are reactive.