The December Drought layer continues to show stubborn results in snowpit tests. There is a new weak layer about 20 to 30cm from the surface. Buried surface hoar and near-surface facets on shady slopes and a facet-crust combination on sunny ones. The snow above this layer is still soft, but it could become an issue if a slab forms or with additional loading.

Hagerman Pass in the Sawatch Range west of Leadville

We parked at Turquoise Lake and followed the road towards Hagerman Pass.

We dug snowpits on a northwest-facing slope below treeline and a southeast-facing near treeline. Where we dug the average snow depth was between 1 and 1.5 meters. In both snowpits, Extended Column Test (ECT) scores show that the December Drought interface is becoming more stubborn. We got propagating results, but only after blows from the shoulder or with extra blows. With good visibility in the morning, it looked like you could find isolated areas with a slab below treeline, like steep, open slopes exposed to the wind, but most areas likely a generally soft snowpack similar to where we dug our snowpit. Even though you're not as likely to trigger an avalanche below treeline, I might still avoid open, steep below-treeline slopes, especially if they have a start zone directly below a ridgeline. We found a new weak layer in both snowpits about 20 to 30 cm from the surface. In our below treeline pit, the snow above this layer wasn't cohesive enough to propagate a failure, but we did get a non-propagating result in an ECT after taps from the wrist. You could easily see some small buried surface hoar grains in the side of the snowpit. In our pit near treeline on a southeast-facing slope, this weak layer was manifesting as a facet-crust combination. Although the snow above the layer was soft, the crust was able to propagate a failure in our ECT after only two taps from the wrist. We think this layer may have formed around Jan 15 to 16 during a short period of clear skies, warm days, and below-zero nights. This layer will be something to look out for with additional loading.

Mostly clear skies became broken by the end of the day. Single-digit temperatures warmed to the 20s.