Front Range
SnowpackAndrew Councell · Mar 5, 2011 · Front Range
Weather
Temps were in the 20s but Strong winds kept things chilly. Skies were overcast but with high-cirrus, not the thicker clouds rolling in now; ie, solar radiation was still apparent. Lots of fuzzy ridges this morning with Strong winds transporting snow all over the place on lee aspects. Winds increased throughout the day. I observed no new snow throughout my 4.5 hours out.
Snowpack
No obvious signs of instability below TL; I triggered multiple D1 slides on indicator slopes all around TL where fresh wind-slab was developing. These varied in depth from a few to 14" deep; I tried but could not get any releases by body weight, only cracking, but cornices were tender so I used that to my advantage. I'll attach photos of the results. Snow profile data: CT3-4 on fresh Wed/Thurs snow now capped by wind-slab, failing about 13cm down; CT 20@54cm down; CT27@70cm down; ECTN25@54cm down; all Q2 shears. CTs produced Q2 shears but failures on indicator slopes showed sensitivity and propagation. I assume these kinds of results indicate similar activity at higher elevs but, skiing solo today and with inclement w/x, I opted to stay just above and near TL.