Front Range
SnowpackJackson Emry · Dec 14, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
Clear and sunny skies with light wind below tree line, wind speed increased throughout the morning.
Snowpack
Below and near treeline had a very weak, almost slab-less faceted snowpack that was excellent to ski. HS below treeline was about 90cm. Above and near treeline, the wind went to work. Lots of drifted snow on higher slopes and sastrugi. I dug a pit on a NE slope ATL and found some softer, new wind-drifted snow on top of a very big, solid, slab of rounds. The basal facets are very alive and well. I did two ECTs, and had similar propagating results at 19/22 at the new-old snow interface, and propagating results at 24/26 in the basal facets. This definitely piqued my interest; the top slab, with the addition of 4-6" of new wind-drifted snow from the incoming storm, could produce slabs greater than 40cm in the upper alpine. There was some isolated cracking from the tip of my ski in pockets. The melt-freeze crust complex is starting to break down slowly, and is still not reactive.