Front Range
SnowpackIan Fowler · May 8, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
I have traveled and worked in many places with strong winds and today was particularly breezy!
Snowpack
Below treeline there was about 20cm of new snow which was very poorly bonded to the snow below and would slide off on any slope steeper than about 20 degrees when skinning up. By the time we returned back to the trailhead this had transformed into a nasty heavy snow. Near treeline there was 30 to 40cm of snow. This was resting on a firm crust with wet grains beneath. This crust seemed stout enough that it will take multiple days of none freezing weather to worry about deeper layers. The snow seemed reasonably well bonded to the crust but I was able to get clean breaks in Compression Tests but no propagation on Extended Column Tests. The interface between the two layers was a mix of defragmenting particles mixed with some rounding facets. On steep test slopes we were unable to get anything to move and cracking was very localized. The wind was not loading very efficiently and with continued snow and lower winds I could see slabs growing thicker in the coming days.