Sawatch

Avalanche

Nick Gianoutsos ยท Dec 30, 2013

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Weather

Snowed hard during the night of Saturday, Dec 28th into early morning Sunday the 29th. We camped on the shelf around 12,500' below the saddle between Mt Sherman and Mt Sheridan. The next day we experienced strong winds, which are typical for this area.

Snowpack

The snowpack was hard and crusty on top with sugar below on low angled slopes before the storm. The overnight snowstorm added up to 6" of fresh snow on top of this layer.

Avalanche

We saw multiple avalanches on our hike out on Sunday after the snowstorm. Natural slides were occurring on NE and E facing slopes (photos attached). NOTE: This is my first observation submission to CAIC so please let me know what I can do to make my observations more helpful.