Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Apr 30, 2018 · Sawatch
Weather
In and out sun today with very windy conditions at ridegetop. Temperatures felt cool this morning especially with the breeze. The afternoon was very warm with more periods of extended sunshine.
Snowpack
Clear skies led to a good surface freeze of the snowpack. The snow was supportable to skis from the trailhead at 10,800 ft. Alpine slopes were slow to soften up. At 11 AM just the top inch of snow softened on sunny slopes below 13k feet. Northerly slopes above about 12k feet have either a firm icy surfaces or an inch or two of wind-blown, dry snow. These upper-elevation north-facing slopes did not warm at all today. The most concerning area I traveled through today was south-facing slopes at around 12k feet. Collapsing and cracking in shallow snowpack areas. Although these signs of instability were on lower-angle slopes, it was enough for me to change my route while ascending back to the ridge, sticking to a ridgeline rather than going up a steeper south-facing slope. This was late in the afternoon and conditions would have been more stable earlier in the day. I didn't travel on, but I also would have avoided, northerly, near-treeline slopes from about 11k to 12k feet. Most slopes at this elevation became unsupportable in the afternoon.
Avalanche
Numerous old avalanches, likely from the April 8th cycle with one very wide avalanche that looked like it might have been earlier in the winter. The most recent avalanche. probably less than week old, was what looked like a wet slab on a northwest aspect of Mt Sheridan.