Front Range
AvalancheRyan Lewthwaite · Feb 2, 2020 · Front Range
Weather
Clear skies with 36F degrees. The winds were swirling near and above treeline with moderate gusts from southeast-south-southwest. Snow was being transported from the alpine to near and below treeline areas.
Snowpack
The winds were scoring and depositing any loose snow to lee aspects. Moderate gusts from south and southwest have loaded opposing aspects with thin and breakable surface wind crusts. Many windward aspects above treeline are stripped to bare ground. The wind drifted snow cracked locally underfoot. I dug a snow profile near treeline on a west aspect where the height of snow was 129cm. Wind firmed surface snow is acting as a slab above weak persistent grains. 34cm below the surface a melt freeze crust is surrounded by loose facets. This concerning layer is where repeatable collapses are occurring in stability tests. A propagation saw test revealed an alarming result with 25/100End@95cm where the slab jumped and slid along the failure. The snowpack below treeline is mostly composed of facetted grains with some protected slopes lack any consolidation.
Avalanche
No new avalanches observed