Grand Mesa
SnowpackColin Mitchell · Jan 8, 2015 · Grand Mesa
Weather
Winds were picking up from the NW as the day progressed. Surface hoar was surviving light winds and high temps.
Snowpack
The snowpack above the cliffs was overall a bit shallower and weaker than further back into the forest, likely due to past winds stripping off the snow. Sastrugi and wind crusts were prevalent in this area. The snow surface was a mix of these crusts, FCsf, and very thin MFcr. In open areas, this was all topped with 5-12 mm surface hoar. The snowpack structure is weak. There is a slab around a foot thick which gets progressively stronger the deeper you go into the pack. 4F on the surface to pencil at 30 cm down. Below this is facets and depth hoar. The Depth hoar grains are large (3mm) and very well developed. The snowpack here is too thin to benefit from the relatively warm temperatures and resist faceting. Overall structure is noticeably weaker than my last profile in the same area. ECT tests failed on the depth hoar layer. ECTP 11 SC, and ECTP 13 SC. The snow on the cliffs themselves is thin and faceted. The SW facing Island Lake path has seen a lot of melting this week, and is currently below threshold. It would take a very big storm to get something going here.