Front Range
SnowpackMax Strotbeck · Feb 29, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
Clear skies. No new snow. Predominately moderate west winds with strong gusts, but steady and strong standing atop ridge. Mild temperatures near freezing though felt colder with wind chill near and above treeline.
Snowpack
Below treeline the snowpack averaged around 125-140cm on the low angled east-facing slopes heading up towards Montgomery Bowl. Near treeline the snowpack ranged from 140-200cm, and above treeline the snowpack varied greatly, with some areas near ridge-top deeper than the length of my 330cm probe. The snow surface consisted primarily of decomposing fragments, and I did not see significant evidence of surface grains faceting, or any evidence of surface hoar. Buried 70-80cm deep on east and northeast aspects below and near treeline observed, I found a thin layer of persistent grains (rounding facets and/or surface hoar crystals) that were unreactive in extended column tests. The 10mm surface hoar crystals observed in my snowpit on a northeast aspect did however fail with hard taps in a compression test (CT23 SC). Above treeline, I observed light blowing snow and westerly facing slopes entirely stripped of snow, with the exception being cross-loaded gullies and couloirs. On the east aspects of Montgomery Bowl, I found the windslab problem to be reactive. On a small test slope, I easily triggered a shallow wind slab (just a few inches deep), and digging a snowpit a bit below ridgeline, I got propagating results in an extended column test once just when isolating the column and once with moderate taps. These both propagated on a layer of decomposing fragments 26cm deep, which was sitting below firmer wind deposited snow.