Sawatch
AvalancheAndrew McWilliams · Apr 19, 2023 · Sawatch
Weather
Broken skies became obscured and light snowfall began after noon. Temperatures were in the teens and the wind was moderate from the southwest.
Snowpack
The snow surface alternated between decomposing grains and a firm, dirty melt-freeze crust on the high-elevation northerly-facing slopes where we dug a snowpit. The height of snow averaged above 200cm across the slope. We found a thinner area to dig near large rocks that was less than 150cm deep. No ice layers or columns were noted within the snowpack and the snow was dry from top to bottom. The only melt-related grains were the upper, dirty crust just below the surface and another crust composed of rounded grains 10cm below (119-116cm up from the ground). An Extended Column Test (ECT) had moderate non-propagating results associated with the upper crust layers. We did get a hard propagating ECT result at the interface with the basal facets, however, this was most likely due to the location of our pit and not indicative of a Persistent Slab avalanche problem. Where we dug, the snow near the ground was exceptionally weak and large-grained due to the boulders on the ground creating large cavities and a bed surface of variable depth. We observed no signs of instability or recent avalanche activity on northerly aspects. On all other aspects, we noticed many recent Wet Loose avalanches and at least one small Wet Slab. Most of these likely ran on or around April 11, 2023. Near and below treeline, a thick and strong melt-freeze crust was on the snow surface that was supportable to uphill and downhill travel and difficult to penetrate with the handle of a ski pole.
Avalanche
I noted a few wet avalanches on the westerly-facing slopes of Mt. Democrat.