Front Range

Calm but cloudy with occasional flurries of snow.

Below the treeline, there is about 100-150cm of snow. Basal facets in this area are rounding and were 4f or 1f- hard. On easterly and southerly aspects, there is a melt-freeze crust at the surface that is absent on north aspects. In a compression test, the crust broke without propagation. In northerly profile at 10000 feet I was able to get propagation on the basal facets with my last strike of the test. Water had only entered the upper 5 to 10cm of the snowpack and without any weak layers of concern wet slab avalanche conditions seem unlikely despite recent warm temperatures. Near and above treeline I found a deep and strong snowpack. There was about 2 to 3 inches of new snow over a 1-finger hard or firmer mid pack. Traversing around a bowl above treeline from south to east to north-facing terrain, I did not find any slabby snow or wind-drifts of concern. When digging on a southeast slope above treeline I was able to get moderate clean compression test results down about 50cm. The weak layer was rimed precipitation particles and when I did a Extended Column Test I did not see any failures. I imagine this layer will not be a problem.