Front Range

SCT skies with strong northwest winds and ample wind transport. Temperatures were just below freezing while I was in the field.

Where I dug above Sister 1, the Hs was a bit over a meter. I found a similar structure to what I found across the valley a couple of days ago — a slab up to 1F in hardness sitting over basal facets and depth hoar. Hard ECTP results at the slab/facet interface, which was about 45cm above the ground. On a southeast-facing slope above treeline, the Hs where I dug was about 160cm. There are a couple of melt-freeze crusts in the upper 30cm of the snowpack, with softer snow in between. This all sits on top of a pretty stout snowpack down to at least 50cm above the ground — I did not dig below this depth. One interesting thing I did find here was a buried layer of preserved graupel about 95cm from the ground. The snowpack where I dug was relatively deep and not very reactive. This might not hold true for shallower areas on southeast-facing terrain. Snow surfaces remained cold and dry on north-facing slopes near treeline and southeast-facing terrain above treeline. Where I traveled below treeline (mainly on east- to southeast-facing terrain), the surface was moist to wet wherever it was exposed to the sun.