Front Range
SnowpackIan Fowler · Mar 30, 2022 · Front Range
Weather
Winds were light to moderate from the northwest below treeline, but I could see snow moving at higher elevations. The skies started out overcast and gradually became broken before closing in again around 230pm to give about an hour of S-1. As soon as the clouds parted you could feel the intensity of the sun.
Snowpack
Below the treeline on east and south aspects, water had percolated to the ground, and there were prominent ice columns about 40cm below the surface. I could make snowballs out of the snow at any depth. In some areas, the snow was supportive, and in others, ski penetration was 20-30cm. On a north aspect, the water had gone into the snowpack around 30 to 40cm, and I again found smaller percolation (ice) columns in the upper snowpack. There were two thin ice layers, 27cm and 30cm below the surface (118 and 115cm from the ground). Below the second ice layer, the snow was still dry (no snowballs), but all layers were either rounds or rounding, and any results in tests were broken or resistant. If you got too close to a rock or tree when skiing, ski penetration went up to 30-50cm.