Front Range

Snowpack

jeff carter · Dec 13, 2012 · Front Range

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Weather

sunny calm and pleasant day

Snowpack

above treeline on N and NE aspecs we saw windscoured snowpack that was typical for front range. safe, and OK to ski at and below treeline (same aspect) we saw surprisingly reactive snowpack. 12-18 inches of soft slab over about 6 inches depth hoar. on skin up, corners were falling out of switchbacks. On benched terrain with a very limited area steeper than say 30 degrees, one skier triggered an area of maybe 1000 sqaure feet of soft slab that ran about 50 feet because of the flatness of the slope. we also saw many shooting cracks on flat terrain