Front Range
AvalancheIan Fowler · Apr 29, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
Skies were partially cloudy and winds were keeping surfaces cooler blowing strongly from the west.
Snowpack
Below treeline the snow was wet from top to bottom. Above wet grains was the new storm snow. This was well bonded to large grains below on northerly and easterly aspects. On a southerly aspect, the snow was insulating a layer of very wet snow that would collapse in Compression Tests. Hopefully, with a couple of nights of good freeze and warm days, this will drain out and not be too much of a problem. Near and Above the treeline, the surface of the snow had stiffened a lot and was a 1-finger or pencil hard layer of wind slab with softer snow below. Compression tests and Extended Column Tests were failing in the soft snow beneath this firm layer. The failure was on a storm density change. The winds were blowing snow so this layer of concern will continue to thicken and get stiffer. I did not see any cracking in this layer on test slopes but I would not trust it in steeper terrain.
Avalanche
The steep southerly terrain around Emerald Lake had already slid and I did not see any other signs of instability other than small point releases and rollerballs.