Front Range
AvalancheMichael Warkander · Jan 24, 2021 · Front Range
Weather
Overcast, snowing 1-2 cm/hour, with no wind near and below treeline (observed at 11,000', E aspect)
Snowpack
I dug a snowpit at 11,000', among the last few scraggly trees near treeline. The bottom ~60 cm of snow is all facets, but there's a pencil-hard layer ~90 cm off the ground that seems to isolate the facets from the new snow. An extended column test squished the new snow but did not affect anything below the hard layer, and did not fracture. Poking with the handle end of my ski poles, the hard layer seems to exist everywhere below the new snow on east aspects below treeline. (I did not venture above treeline)
Avalanche
None observed