Sawatch
AvalancheJohn Mackinnon · Dec 23, 2020 · Sawatch
Weather
Bitterly cold, overcast skies, moderate NW winds and steady blowing snow near and above TL.
Snowpack
Morning tour on 12/23: Lot of cracking and collapsing on W and NW aspects near TL. Cracks were traveling well over 10 meters in places. Winds had drifted in recent storm snow on NW aspects near TL into a thick slab in most of the areas where we toured. Chose to ski a low angled bowl but too much new snow had drifted in to really move. Hard to get a read on how much new storm snow accumulated near and above TL since it was very wind-affected at higher elevations. I did observe Persistent Slab structure on NW and W aspects near TL but the distribution of both the wind-drifted snow and the facets is less continuous than on the easterly slopes at that elevation band.
Avalanche
N/O