Sawatch

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Apr 23, 2018 · Sawatch

Weather

Cloudy skies at times with squalls of snow. Other times scattered clouds with brilliant sunshine. Winds were moderate to strong above treeline. Winds picked up at lower elevations in the afternoon.

Snowpack

I traveled from 10,000 ft to 13,200 ft on easterly slopes. Snowline in this thinner part of the Sawatch is around 11,000 ft. Supportable snowpack to skis at all elevations. There is a hard melt-freeze crust under a few inches of moist snow. The snow was moist all the way to 13k feet, though there was some dry wind-transported snow as well. No evidence of any reactive wind slab. No rollerballing in new snow as it seems like Loose Wet avalanches ran their course on Sunday. Almost all steep and rocky terrain features saw small wet avalanches yesterday.