Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg, Becs Hodgetts · Jan 23, 2020 · Sawatch
Weather
We were out from about 9 AM to 1 PM and it snowed most of the time. Precip rates generally S-1 to S1 with short periods of S2. We measured 8" of new snow in the parking lot. Up near treeline new snow was about 12 inches. Snowfall the last two days is the most snow that this areas has seen (in 48 hours) since mid-December. We didn't get to ridgetop but winds were actively transporting snow and my guess would be intense wind loading on southeast quarter slopes both near and above treeline. Snow height ranged from 120 cm to 150 cm.
Snowpack
Overall the snowpack structure is poor at all elevations and all aspects that we observed. The variable is the thickness and stiffness of the new slab. Below treeline the slab is fist hard and rests on a thin crust over facets on east and southeast slopes. Near treeline we did not find this crust on an east and northeast-facing slopes but the slab is thicker and harder. Including the snow from the past two weeks, the slab that sits over the weakest, faceted, persistent weak layer is 55 cm thick. We got hard propagating tests results in an Extended Column Test on this layer. We also got a propagating test result in the middle of the slab in one test, but we both felt the layer 55 cm down is the one to contend with. Of course there is the standard depth hoar near the ground, but this was unreactive in stability tests. It would take a large load for avalanches to break at this layer. When this happens avalanches will be very large. A person could also potentially trigger an avalanche on an upper snowpack layer that steps down to deeper layers. On a southeast aspect near treeline we also found a very poor snowpack structure with multiple crust/facet combos but with a much thinner slab. This slope was not wind loaded. A southeast wind-loaded slope would be scary.
Avalanche
None observed but poor vis.