Front Range
SnowpackBrendan R · Apr 27, 2013 · Front Range
Weather
Skies were clear and temperatures at trail head < 32F at 0630. However the wind was much stronger than forecast. I would estimate a moderate to strong wind out of the west consistently for the entire day. Overall temperatures for the day felt chilly, requiring warm gloves, hats, and hardshell jackets. When we returned to the St. Mary'l Lake at 1230 significant warming of the snowpack had occurred, softening the surface snow at the lower portion of St. Mary's Glacier, headwall of St. Mary's Lake, and the eastern slopes below treeline back to the trailhead
Snowpack
Snow conditions on James Peak SE slope were poor for the ski descent. Due to a breakable crust on the surface from a combination of wind affected snow and melt freeze, initiating turns was extremely difficult. Below the breakable crust was dry soft snow supported by buried layers variable hardnesses. For those brave enough to attempt to make parallel turns, many falls and face plants were their fate. Sadly, the consensus of the participants was that it was some of the worst conditions for skiing they have ever encountered. It was survival skiing from the summit of James Peak all the way across the large flat expanse of snow to the upper portion of the wind blasted St. Mary's Glacier. The only area where any significant softening of snow occurred due to solar warming was the lower half of St. Marys Glacier, the head wall above St. Mary's Lake, and the eastern slopes below treeline on the way back to the trailhead.