Front Range

Snowpack

Ryan Zarter · Feb 6, 2024 · Front Range

Weather

Broken skies with temperatures climbing above freezing. Moderate to strong southwest winds transporting snow near and above treeline.

Snowpack

Last weekend's storm snow has yet to form a slab in sheltered areas near treeline. I dug on a somewhat sheltered, north-facing slope near treeline and found last weekend's snow sitting on a pronounced surface hoar and facet layer about 30cm below the surface. Below this I found a 1F to P hard slab over basal facets/depth hoar--this older weak layer is about 80cm below the surface. Unexciting ECT results suggest that this new load has had little lasting impact on older weak layers. Things get a bit more exciting as you venture into areas near treeline where the wind has started to build a slab. I experienced moderate collapsing and shooting cracks on steeper features where the snow has started to slab up. I saw two small skier triggered avalanches (same as in this observation: https://avalanche.state.co.us/observations/field-report/545b733f-2e07-4744-a7df-8dc5e6863edf) as well as a larger natural avalanche in Z chute on Hidden Knoll.