Sawatch
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Apr 21, 2019 · Sawatch
Weather
Very windy, cold and cloudy for most of the day with short-lived snow squalls. New snow didn't amount to much, less than an inch. The sun came out for some brief periods after 2 PM with more clearing and mostly sunny skies after 4 PM. Wind gusts were about 40 mph near to above treeline.
Snowpack
Locked up tight. The snow surface was frozen solid from the snow line which is about 10,000 feet in this area to mountain tops on all aspects. Minor softening occurred during the day near to above treeline, enough to make southerly slopes edgeable but that's about all. Below treeline the snowpack softened a bit by afternoon and in thickly treed areas we would fall through the snowpack. Below treeline open slopes were still very supportable.---The wind was able to drift the minimal snow amounts into slabs 4 to 6 inches thick above treeline. No cracking was observed and the drifted snow appeared to bond well to underlying surfaces.