Front Range
AvalancheJoey Carpenter · Nov 5, 2015 · Front Range
Weather
1015 at the trail split 16F w/ calm winds, S1, sky 8/8 cloud coverage 1315 at treeline, winds 5mph sustained w/ gusts of 25 from the SW, 8/8 cloud coverage w/ very brief moments of 7/8.
Snowpack
1315 @ Treeline on 25 degree slope. East Aspect, HS 51cm. 0-22cm Fist hardness 1mm facets, persistent slabs here we come. Very distinct, pencil hard melt freeze crust from 22-25cm. 26-51cm new snow, fist hardness, mostly stellar w/ small amounts of graupel throughout. Ski pen 25cm. CT produced a sudden collapse q2 while isolating the column @ 25cm (buried surface hoar?). ECT produced same collapse @ 25cm on #8 (note, isolating the column for ECT was very difficult due to the hardness of the MF crust, this result reflects that and may not be entirely accurate). The collapse only occurred beneath the shovel blade and did not propagate across the column. NE aspect had a much more cohesive slab feeling underfoot. While this existed on all the aspects I explored today (NE, E, SE) it was the most prominent on the NE aspect.
Avalanche
None observed.