It feels like spring, it smells like spring, and yet it is early February. In many places, the snowpack still shows that it's mid-winter despite recent warm temperatures and dry weather. In other places the snowpack consists entirely of melt forms from top to bottom and a refrozen surface sits above wet grains towards the ground. Weak layers have gone dormant on many slopes, but still exist structurally and may pose a problem when (hopefully) snow returns to the Southern Mountains.

Ophir Pass

The east Ophir Pass area did not see the widespread wet loose cycle that occurred in the Uncompahgre Gorge, Brooklyn slide paths, or Eureka area. Very few loose wet avalanches could be seen from the road and what loose activity was observed was small in size and did not entrain snow beyond the surface.

A stout melt-freeze crust exists on slopes with a south tilt. East and west slopes have a thinner melt-freeze crust at the surface. South slopes have lost considerable mass under 11,000ft.
We dug around 11,500 ft on an east and south slope. The east slope showed evidence of the recent warm temperatures in the top 30-40 cm of the snowpack; however, grains were not wet while digging. The old October and November snow continues to form a base of facets. While test results showed some failures near the surface, the layer of concern remains our December drought layer. There was no evidence of water moving through the lower portion of the snowpack in this pit.
The south slope around 11,400 ft showed a different story. Melt forms are the predominate grain type from top to bottom and about 20cm of refrozen grains cap insulated wet grains towards the ground.

The winds continue in the alpine, and there is a lot of evidence that the peaks have been hit from nearly every direction. Warmer temperatures also continue but are 10 degrees cooler than last weekend's spike. Early morning clouds gave way to scattered clouds around 2pm. South-facing snow surfaces below 12000 ft were quick to soften up after a little sun exposure. Oh, and I can confirm it snowed this morning. A trace hit the slopes and was immediately blown away by the wind, but it was nice to see some moisture in the air.