Front Range

Snowpack

The snowpack is thin, even for the Front Range. Above treeline is scoured on westerly aspects to rock. Near and below treeline have 20-140 cm of snow, with the highest amounts on sheltered north, northeast, or east aspects. We did not travel above treeline. Below treeline is very thin with crusts over facets that were beginning to be unsupportive to skis on sunny aspects by 1 pm. The thin and weak snowpack below treeline will not support much new snow before it avalanches. Still, avalanches will be on the smaller side as slabs are limited if they even exist at all. Near and above treeline has a dense, pencil to knife-hard midpack slab with a mixed bag of slabs, crusts and near surface facets closer to the top. The faceted snow at the bottom of the snowpack was unreactive in stability tests. The snow and wind of late January and February capped this weak snow with a rigid slab. It will take a lot of snow at these elevations to trigger deep avalanches that break under the dense midpack slab but they would be large and dangerous. Smaller avalanches breaking in the upper snowpack will be easier to trigger, with the terrifying possibility that these would step down into the weak basal snow.