Grand Mesa

Avalanche

Anonymous · Jan 8, 2017 · Grand Mesa

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Weather

S-1 in AM to S2 by one pm. Light wind from WSW. Visibility went from eerily foggy in the AM to obscured by noon. The storm was on its way.

Snowpack

Avg HS 130cm @ 9000ft. Pole probing largely showed a homogeneous snowpack on W and NW aspects and a thinner, more layered snowpack on S and SW aspects. Found the dreaded thin snowpack, wallowing depth hoar/large facets/Colorado Classic on some isolated slopes that face SW. Large settlement cones were observed on every aspect. The previous fluff morphed into PNW cream over the last couple days. No whumphs, no cracks observed. Some sluffing on steeper pitches.

Avalanche

None observed other than sluffing.