Front Range
SnowpackAmanda Loughlin · Mar 24, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
Warm, broken skies, and calm in the morning with dropping temperatures, light west wind and light snowfall (graupel then precip particles) in the afternoon.
Snowpack
I experienced localized cracking on MFcr whenever I stepped off the trail below treeline on east through south aspects. Height of snow (HS) below treeline ranged from 48-80cm and I did not observe any collapsing or avalanches on my short tour. HS on east aspects below and near treeline ranged between 70-230cm and showed considerable wind loading. A snow pit dug on east aspect at 10,850ft revealed new snow/ wind transported snow over a stout MFcr over decomposing and fragmented particles (likely snow from last major storm), over a small slab, buried surface hoar, and P-K hard slabs. HS snow here was 205 and I dug 100cm down to K hard slab. A compression test (CT) produced results of CT9 @↓15cm (RP) on F hard decomposing and fragmented particles. This layer was not reactive to an extended column test with an ECTX result.