Sangre de Cristo
SnowpackScott Toepfer · Mar 5, 2011 · Sangre de Cristo
Weather
Mainly clear but a large lenticular cloud had formed over much of the range. Temperatures were fairly mild after a 10 F start at 7:30 am from the Trailhead. Once we got to treeline the going got harder as we were constantly exposed to strong S'ly winds.
Snowpack
Classic Colorado snowpack....Hard slabs resting on large depth hoar grains. These could be found on all aspects due to prevailing north or south winds plus great location for cross loading bowls and gullies that faced west. Given how little snow there is this year in the range, it was surprising to see how reactive it became when we started onto steep N aspect terrain at treeline. Given what we felt & saw, I would be very suspicious about most any terrain over 35 degrees on the west side of the range. Wide spread cracking and collapse, cracks running tens of feet down slope, breaking to the ground. Quite spooky. Limited our egress off the peak. It will be a long time before this snowpack changes for the better. Storms of 6 to 12" plus would inspire human triggered activity.