Front Range
SnowpackJason Konigsberg, Jeremy Mercier · Feb 25, 2021 · Front Range
Weather
Peaks were shrouded in clouds for the majority of the morning, clearing in early afternoon. Winds were light at all elevations. About an inch of recent snow. No blowing snow evident but the wind must have picked up late afternoon as I saw snow transported from the northwest on the drive home. This was mostly above treeline and moderate transport.
Snowpack
Strong slab over weak layers near the ground is the bottom line on north through east at all elevations. Weak layers that exist in the mid to upper snowpack (surface hoar and faceted crystals) were unreactive in snowpack tests. The main layer of concern is 2 mm faceted crystals that sit on top of depth hoar. On a below treeline slope the snow depth was only about 130 cm. We thought we would get easier results in an ECT but we did not and results were hard at ECTP25. A compression test of 21 taps with a sudden collapse was also noted on this layer. Propagation to the end of the column in a Propagation Saw Test with cut length of 35 cm (PST 35/100 END). On a north-facing near treeline slope the snowpack was 170 cm deep. We only performed a PST and got similar results as the thinner area. All of these findings align with other areas of a stubborn and possibly hard to effect weak layer, but if you do, the avalanche will be large and wide.