Front Range
AvalancheAndy Nelson · Feb 18, 2018 · Front Range
Weather
Overall wind was slightly breezy in the trees with higher gusts viewed above tree line appearing to come from the W/SW. Sky was sunny overall becoming partly cloudy around 1pm. Air temperature was estimated at 35-40F. No new precipitation observed.
Snowpack
The overall architecture of the snowpack remains suspect. Deep instability remains a concern. Test pit observations were targeted at deeper instabilities within the snow, revealing a touchy interface. The upper snowpack consists of mostly fist to 1 finger snow, getting harder as you near the strong/weak interface which at this location was around 60-70cm up from the ground, with an observable change to fist to 4 finger faceted snow to the ground. Failure of this layer was observed in testing.
Avalanche
No large avalanches were observed today like the ones seen on Seven Utes. Snow cover was excellent below tree line with little affected snow on this particular N/NE aspect. Wind loading on lee aspects above timber line is apparent, with evidence of recent transport and extreme scouring on windward aspects.