Front Range
SnowpackIan Fowler · Jan 9, 2025 · Front Range
Weather
It was cold. Temp at the truck when we left was 4* and it there was a moderate northeasterly breeze that made it almost impossible to be above treeline.
Snowpack
Below treeline there was a consistent 1 to 1.2meter deep snowpack. Approximately the bottom half of the pack was pre Christmas facets and the top half was post Christmas snow that was progressively harder till the basal facet interface. Facets were growing in size but at least had enough structure that they didn't just pour out of the snowpack as I have seen in areas of Summit County. Near treeline on the same aspect the structure was similar but with a thicker denser post Christmas slab. In both these profiles ECT's indicated a strengthening slab but PST's indicate a weak basal facets and potential for large avalanches if you find the weaker area of the slab. Near Treeline the snowpack was consistently 120 to 170cm deep. On a southeast aspect Near Treeline we found a shallower snowpack with a variety of crusts. These crusts seemed quite variable and we didn't see propagating results in ECTs but we did get clean shears under the uppermost crust in Compression Tests. As soon as we moved a little further south the snowpack almost disappeared but we were also on a very windy area that scours heavily. The northeast winds were actively loading onto south and southwest facing slopes but these slopes had very little old snow to be a concern. We did see localized cracking in some pockets just to the west of the ridge but these were shallow and confined to newly drifted snow. This tour was the first tour since Christmas (apart from in the Indian Peaks Wilderness) where I did not experience widespread booming collapses.