Front Range
Avalanchecolin wann · Feb 3, 2016 · Front Range
Weather
Obscured skies most of the day with Light winds, gusting to Moderate TL+ATL. Lots of wind transport and affect happening while we were out. Low temps, especially with wind chill. More than the 12" reported on the ground in many areas BTL.
Snowpack
The new snow became stiffer throughout the day and where exposed to winds, there was a surface slab forming. We dug in an area with an Easterly aspect at TL. The area is heavily loaded, with a HS of 230cm. We dug to 170cm and exposed some of the mid-pack. The new snow layers from the the last two events failed in compression easily, while the mid-pack PWL was tougher to bring out; it failed at CT18 in the first column, but remained quiet in the second column. An ECT produced no results.
Avalanche
None observed. New snow sloughed easily on slopes steeper than 40 degrees.