Grand Mesa

Avalanche

Rick (Grumpy) Smith Powderhorn Ski Patrol · Dec 29, 2014 · Grand Mesa

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Weather

Overcast with light wind (0-5 mph) and lightly snowing at 0930 AM. Morning temp at 0900 was 15* (F). No RH taken but rough thought is that it was fairly high (70 % + range)

Snowpack

An "ECT" pit was dug which extended from ground to 50 cm. Profile showed from 50-38cm to be easy "Fist". 38-25cm was "1F-2F" and 25-ground was easy "Fist". 25cm-ground showed "Clustered Melted Forms" loosely packed, 25-38cm appeared to be "Rounded" tight snow grains and 38-50 appeared to be "Faceted" loosely packed. All grains appeared to be 1-2 mm in size. The compression test was fairly unremarkable with a "CT 23" @ 25cm that basically fell apart and was not a clear block. Note: The observer (i.e. Me/Grumpy) is still learning and is pretty "Green", but I believe these observation are pretty close. I also have 3 total snow depth (hx) sites @ Powderhorn Ski Resort, which Spencer has recorded the LAT./LONG. Site 1 is the Top#1 @ 9900' and was 26", site two (Fly Boy) at 9300' showed 22" and site 3 (Top of Pig) @ 8900' showed 18"

Avalanche

None observed