Sawatch

Snowpack

Becs Hodgetts · Dec 15, 2015 · Sawatch

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Weather

Very cold with wind chill. Difficult to see when we made it to the ridge. Could not see any above treeline terrain. Wind variable, predominately NNW, was moving snow to low in start zones. Very minor cornice formation - ridges were almost completely bare, when we got a few windows in visibility, could see "bulgy" looking Wind Slab well below ridge.

Snowpack

Snow depth varied from 1m to 30cm to bare anywhere the wind could get to. Below treeline snowpack was supportive to skiers, boot pen was to ground (or as long as your leg - whichever came first). Some cracking observed (`6") around skis as day progressed.