Front Range
SnowpackAmanda Loughlin Jason Konigsberg · Dec 7, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
Mostly sunny, warm calm day. Light breeze on north aspect near treeline.
Snowpack
Overall, we found a thin snowpack. We witnessed small, pretty surface hoar on flat areas in the morning but did not notice surface hoar anywhere else we traveled. In areas unaffected by the wind below and near treeline, we measured 30-50cm of snow. In wind effected places we traveled near and above treeline, we noticed a thin and nonexistent snowpack. We observed cross loaded gully walls that likely had more snow but were not continuous. Everywhere we traveled on north aspects, the snow was faceted from top to bottom. A snow pit dug on north aspect below treeline depicted a height of snow of 48cm mainly consisting of faceted snow. The top 2cm of snow were wind packed particles, and we found a very thin melt freeze crust between facets. An extended column test on this snow pit produced minor propagation on lower facet layer (ECTN3, ECTN11).