Front Range

Avalanche

Mike Cooperstein · Jan 4, 2020 · Front Range

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Weather

Clear and warm day, but strong westerly winds near and above treeline.

Snowpack

Snowpack is still thin, less than a meter deep, in most places. There is an 8 inch thick wind slab at the surface that is resting on some decomposing precipitation particles and small facets at the interface between the new snow and old snow surface. This was the failure plane for multiple snowpack tests. The mid pack is composed of a weak faceted layer sandwiched between two harder layers. We did not get propagation on this layer, but it isn't going away. Well formed depth hoar underlays the entire snowpack.

Avalanche

We saw one natural wind slab avalanche in very steep easterly-facing terrain just below the ridgeline. It looked a few days old. Otherwise no signs of avalanche activity.