Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Apr 11, 2024 · Sawatch
Snowpack
At 11:30 AM I descended southeast facing slopes above and near treeline. The snow surface was just starting to soften. The snow surface was a mixture of melt-freeze crusts and moistening, recently drifted snow. I descended south-facing slopes at 1 PM and 3 PM. On these slopes, the snow surface was soft to 13k feet. It was never moist deeper than the top inch or so. I did not observe any rollerballing or other signs of wet instability. Previously dry snow was getting moist for the first time on east and northeast-facing near treeline slopes. I didn't travel on these slopes much, and I probably wouldn't, as this snowpack is going through more of a transition with undesirable travel conditions.
Avalanche
I saw two older avalanches. One was a significant D2 into Sayres Gulch. It looked like a smaller wind slab avalanches ran down to treeline and triggered a deeper avalanche on a northeast-facing slope. Debris at the bottom looked deep. It's possible this avalanche occurred on March 31 when large avalanches off of Star Mountain were observed.