Steamboat & Flat Tops
SnowpackJason Konigsberg, Eric Haskell · Dec 27, 2016 · Front Range
Weather
The wind backed from west to south at 6 AM and increased in speed. The fresh south winds resulted in periods of intense wind loading.
Snowpack
The snowpack in North Routt County was not found to be much different than areas closer to Steamboat. The average snow depth was about 140cms and there were no prominent weak layers. Any faceted snow near the ground was rounded and at least one-finger hardness... The fresh southerly wind created sensitive wind slabs on northerly aspects. The wind slabs would fail on low-density snow from Monday night/Tuesday morning...The one avalanche that stepped down to the ground was an anomaly. The snowpack depth on this very steep, rocky, northerly slope was 50 to 80cms. The avalanche occurred on a rock band that had developed depth hoar and maintained a thin snowpack as it was likely continually stripped by northerly winds.