Front Range
SnowpackIan Fowler · Apr 6, 2023 · Front Range
Weather
Although it was a bluebird day the snow and air temperatures remained cold in the alpine and I did not see any wet movement. Winds were light with moderate gusts from the west.
Snowpack
Below treeline there was about 15 to 20cm of new snow above a crust that I was unable to punch through with a ski pole. As I went up in elevation the height of storm snow increased to almost 40cm. North easterly and easterly slopes near treeline had slabbed up and I was able to trigger a small test slope on these aspects which ran on the crust below the new snow. In my two snow profiles I did not observe any weak layers in the older snowpack. All the test failures were in the new storm snow or at the new/old interface. On northeast and southeast aspects the main crust is down about 40cm and has the dust layer and storm snow above. This will be the layer to watch. Probing deeper into the snowpack than I dug it felt very solid. I did not find and facets around any of the crusts. Close to ridgelines there were large cornices and bulbous pillows beneath. It was surprising how little the sun affected the snow today.