Front Range
SnowpackColin Mitchell · Jan 18, 2013 · Front Range
Weather
Breezy and relatively warm today. Wind was light to moderate at just below treeline elevations. Blowing snow and strong west winds could be observed on nearby above treeline terrain. Skies were clear.
Snowpack
The snowpack at our profile location was comprised of several layers of faceted snow, topped by a thin soft slab (snow from earlier this week) and 3 cm of F hard NSF's at the surface, totaling 70 cm. Large (3-5mm) depth hoar was found in the lowest 15 cm of the snowpack. The snowpack was remarkably unreactive to tests. 1 compression test, 4 ECT's and 4 PST's all yielded no results (PST SFx4, ECTXx4, CTN). We experienced some very localized cracking around our skis,and a observed debris from a couple of very small wet loose slides, off of rock bands below treeline, that probably ran today. No other signs of instability were noted.