Sawatch
SnowpackMichael Steinman · Mar 25, 2012 · Sawatch
Weather
Evidence of a hard freeze at 9000' Sunday morning.
Snowpack
Consolidated spring time snow pack at tree line and above on East through South through west aspects. The snow pack was what I would expect of early May. There were no signs of instability. There was no evidence of any wet slabs or point releases on any slope observed. The upper 1 inch of the snow pack quickly softened under the intense morning sun, but the afternoon clouds limited the melting. I confidently skied the south face of Harvard at 2:45 p.m. I sank in deep (with skis) above 13.5k feet where the snow was shallow and isothermal, but below approx. 13.5k feet the snow pack was deep, supportable spring corn.