Front Range

Sunny and warm the temperature in the truck was 48F at 11am. WInds were strong from the west and were keeping snow surfaces cool apart from on southeast near treeline aspects.

Below treeline the snow is about 30cm deep and is mostly faceted with new snow on top. It is supportive to skis (probably 4f), so it did make for good travel, but I could consistently punch my pole through to the ground. Near Treeline the variability commences based on how the wind has sculpted the terrain. I dug two profiles on a northeast aspect about 300ft apart in elevation. In one, I found a right-side-up snowpack with basal facets that had become ice, and I got no results in any Column or Extended Column Tests. While traveling higher, I found this same structure in about 20% of my probing, and mostly on the aprons to the steeper terrain. The other 80% of probing was bottomless facets or weak snow with a slab or very shallow snow. In short, very variable. At my higher northeast profile, I found a very prominent ice-hard layer about 10cm from the surface, created by the intense winds last week. This layer was dirty. In this location, I got ECTP13. Southeast near the treeline was getting wet at the surface, but I did not find any slab.