Grand Mesa
SnowpackBrian McCall · Dec 19, 2010 · Grand Mesa
Weather
Mild temps. Overcast to obscured skies. Light snow at S-1 most of the day. Winds during late morning were light to moderate S. Increased to steady moderate by late afternoon. Rain/snow line at 8200 ft.
Snowpack
General snowpack structure for this area was new snow and df's in the upper snowpack. Midpack of rounded grains. Lower snowpack 2mm facets. MF crust on the ground. North and northwest aspects near ridge tops were getting loaded by moderate south winds and had 10-30 cm thick wind slabs in upper snowpack. Dramatic difference between below treeline stability and treeline areas. Good stability at lower elevations. Any wind loaded slope had poor stability.