Colorado dirt layer

[ski whore]

What concerns should I have about the dirt layer that occured a couple of months ago in Colorado...I'm wondering what affects it will have on compacted spring snow. Thanks

[Rontele]

Well it can mean one of two things (or more)

1. It can provide a surface that will heat quicker than the surrounding layers, creating facets both above and below the dirt layer (which has occurred). It can also be a bed surface that slabs could run on.

2. If the layers above the dirt layer melt quickly (and we don't get much more snow), then the season may be over sooner rather than later. The dirt will absorb the heat of the sun quicker and will melt through the pack, warming it and remaining until it has all melted.

[ak_telemike]

http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=19291

http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=16920

[ski whore]

Thanks. I still don't quite understand its implications on freeze/thaw late spring snow conditions.

[ak_telemike]

probably very little once the snow goes isothermal - well consolidated and consistent temperature (right around 32 deg)

At that point it will probably have little or affect on temperature gradients and will not matter, especially if buried deep. Might heat up more if close to the surface and melt quicker

Of course, I don't know for sure, but that's my best guess. Some of the more hardcore snownerds at CAIC might have better answers. Try contacting them directly.

[FiveLarge]

Thanks. I still don't quite understand its implications on freeze/thaw late spring snow conditions.

Well, you're not alone...Halsted comments in the one thread at ttips and another thread here where this came up that even the avy experts don't fully know its implications. It's rare enough that there isn't alot of historical data to go on.

[Hacksaw]

Well, you're not alone...Halsted comments in the one thread at ttips and another thread here where this came up that even the avy experts don't fully know its implications. It's rare enough that there isn't alot of historical data to go on.

Yea, I'm just home from British Columbia.

In the next couple of days I'll try and get out and do some snowpits. I'm very interested to see whats going on with the dust layer. There have been some natural avalanches in the Northern Colorado Mountains where the bed surface was the bedlayer.
Cheers,
Halsted

[white]

[QUOTE=Rontele]Well it can mean one of two things (or more)

1. It can provide a surface that will heat quicker than the surrounding layers, creating facets both above and below the dirt layer (which has occurred).

-It most certainly has...Extensive faceting and very poorly consolidated snow lies underneath that dust layer. We found the layer as one-inch crust about 3 feet down in the snowpack in a hasty pit at roughly 11,000 ft. on a N-NW facing aspect on Berthoud. (Hell's half-acre area)