Front Range
AvalancheSteve Stowell · Apr 25, 2020 · Front Range
Weather
Vicinity Glen Cove, 11,600Ft, North-east aspect. 30% sky covered, temps 32-36F, wind 5-10mph from west. No precip.
Snowpack
Dug a hasty pit in the "ankle" of Little Italy. 11,600 feet, Northeast aspect. Bottom 6 inches was 3-4MM depth hoar cups, with a 1cm ice layer above it. Next 2 feet looked like rounding facets, 1-4 fingers penetration, with an occasional thin ice layer. Near surface was a 6" slab consisting of what looked like multiple melt freeze layers, knife to Ice penetration. Top 1" was new blown snow. When hiking in and around the area, would variously punch through the 6" top layer- it would support walking weight ~70% of the time. Cramponned up Lttle Italy, should have brought skiis to come down!
Avalanche
Looked like debris fan at the bottom of the W's (11,700' NW aspect). Other than that, no current or old avvys observed.