Front Range

The avalanches I observed were previously recorded in this observation: https://avalanche.state.co.us/report/87a891be-6b97-4eaf-86f4-1a6e23d87efd

Broken skies, winds increased during the day from moderate to strong and shifted from mostly northwest to mostly southwest. Warm today with temperatures in the mid-30s.

The near-surface facet layer that is the weak layer of concern here, and across most of the Northern Mountains, was better developed in this particular snowpit than in other places. The grains were generally bigger than 2mm and had obvious striations. As I approached my snowpit location, I had a slope-wide collapse. My Extended Column Test here failed on the near-surface facet layer after taps from the elbow - the same layer that collapsed. Recent slides on northeast, east, and southeast-facing slopes here look like they failed on that layer and maybe stepped down in places. None of the recent slides broke more deeply near the ground. Below treeline, the recent warm weather is starting to form a cohesive slab about 30cm thick, resting on a faceted, weak snowpack. While ascending and descending, there were many places where I broke through this slab in the unconsolidated snow below. I didn't see any cracking or collapsing on test slopes below treeline, but I'd be cautious around open slopes at the upper end of below treeline where this slab might be more cohesive and continuous across terrain features. With above-freezing temperatures, the top 1 to 3cm of snow was moist below treeline and already forming a crust when I was descending.