Sawatch
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek · Apr 4, 2023 · Sawatch
Weather
Cold morning in the high teens to low 20s Fahrenheit warming up to 32F by 14:00 at the trailhead around 8800 ft. Intermittent snowfall all day with max precipitation intensity of S2 for no more than an hour, mostly S-1 to S1. Consistent strong winds gusting extreme at higher elevations and intense wind transport.
Snowpack
Southerly slopes below the treeline are composed of numerous melt-freeze crusts and melt forms with thin layers of weak facets in between the higher crusts. The new snow arrived last night with a significant amount of dust. About 5 cm of new snow was resting on top of a prominent dust layer at the bottom of the storm snow and this dust was noticable on the snow surface on wind-scoured slopes. The only noticable persistent weak layer in a northeast-facing pit was the basal facet layer with one or two concerning interfaces in the upper portions of the snowpack. Not many concerns on slopes below the treeline particularly those that have seen liquid water throughout most of if not all of the snowpack.
Avalanche
Observed a small, old avalanche by Ruedi Reservoir