Grand Mesa
AvalancheBrandon Levy · Feb 20, 2022 · Grand Mesa
Weather
Warm air temperature but breezy with a few high clouds and contrails. No blowing snow observed on Grand Mesa but blowing snow on the peaks above the Crystal Valley and on Sopris when I returned to the Roaring Fork Valley over McClure.
Snowpack
Slopes with a due southerly tilt had a thin surface crust but overall the snow surface was soft. The recent snow from February 17th was about 10cms and was more cohesive than the underlying really weak near-surface faceted grains. However, it was still only fist hard. Under that recent snow I measured about 30cms of near-surface faceted grains in sheltered northerly-facing slopes. In areas where there was more recent wind effect (e.g. above Cliffs #4) the recent storm snow was stuck onto the old firm surface.
Avalanche
None observed