Sawatch
SnowpackDrew Gibson · Apr 2, 2024 · Sawatch
Weather
Clear and hot. There was a light northerly wind in the basin that increased at ridgecrest, you could see plumes off the ridge.
Snowpack
The spring sun effects are very present at low elevations. On a southerly slope near 11,000ft around 3:00 pm, I found a completely wet and cohesionless snowpack. East-facing slopes had a bit more support as did westerlies. It is easy to feel the effects of the sun on the surface snow to near 12,000ft on east and west slopes, though the depth of the warming is only about 10cm (4 in). While attempting to move into the upper basin I experienced one rumbling collapse while under some northerly facing slopes. Combined with some gut feeling I decided to not travel any further into the basin. Near treeline on a northwest-facing slope, the snowpack was up to around 190cm in some drifted areas but realistically more like 150cm. The basal facets are rounding in places and the mid-pack is relatively strong. I only observed one dust layer in this location and it is about 50cm down. The most recent snow from the end of March storm is resting on a melt-freeze crust with small facets surrounding it. This layer was unreactive in propagation tests. At around 11,400ft on a northeast-facing slope, I dug in a "shallower" area in 190cm of snow. In the top meter of snow, I found relatively strong snow sandwiching the March 23 weak layer which was unreactive to propagation tests with the exception of the "Atomic Elbow" after Extended Column Test showed no results. I did see an upper dust layer that blew in during the end of March storm but it is much more diffuse than the deeper dust layer.