Grand Mesa

Avalanche

Brandon Levy · Feb 20, 2021 · Grand Mesa

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Weather

Windy and clear with increasing clouds on the north side of Grand Mesa as I drove out of the area around midday. Wind was lightly loading the Cliffs especially #4.

Snowpack

One third of the snowpack on a north-facing slope at 10600' consists of the storm snow received between 2/10 and 2/18 which is settled to 60cms. The total snow depth is 170cms. Ski penetration is 20 cm while boot penetration was 45 cms. The depth to the persistent weak layer buried around 1/19 was 95cms. This layer is gaining strength and showing significant signs of rounding. The persistent weak layer buried around 12/11 is down 130cms and produced sudden results in compression tests (CT12 SC down 130 on 4mm DH and CT21 SC down 130 on 4mm DH).

Avalanche

None observed