Sawatch

Snowpack

Ian Hoyer Becs Hodgetts ยท Feb 18, 2016

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Weather

Just below freezing and snowing S-1 to S1 all morning. Completely socked in, couldn't even see the valley walls until around noon. Around noon the clouds lifted and snowfall slowed down. The snow surface did not become wet before we left around 1 pm, so Loose Wet avalanches weren't an issue.

Snowpack

Only traveled below treeline. Snowpack was mostly supportable on snowmobiles, unsupportable on foot. The snowpack was generally around 50-100cm, comprised of depth hoar capped by several stout crusts. We dug on a S aspect below treeline and found a single percolation column running from the crusts through the depth hoar to the ground. Propagation in three tests on the crust-depth hoar interface: ECTP11, PST38/100, CPST38/100.