Front Range
SnowpackRon Simenhois · Dec 19, 2023 · Front Range
Weather
Warm (~-2C) with light winds and light snowfall
Snowpack
I primarily traveled on N and SW aspects, at near and above TL. On N aspect above TL, the snow cover is still thin and isolated to gullies. This limits the potential size of avalanches. The upper part of the snowpack is strong, and as far as I can tell, it shields the weak faceted layer at the bottom of the pack from a rider load. However, initiated cracks can propagate over the entire snowfield (ECTP19). At TL, the snowpack is mostly weak, with a thin CR or hard wind slab layer at the surface. This wind slab becomes reactive with shooting cracks (ECTP13) in isolated areas where its thickness is 5 to 10 thick. On the SE aspect around TL, a thin FC layer is buried/shielded under hard snow layers. ECTP21 suggests that cracks are hard to trigger but have the potential to propagate.