Sawatch

Avalanche

John Mackinnon ยท Feb 2, 2016

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Weather

Increasing clouds from noon to 3 pm, light and variable winds below TL and intermitted light snow with minimal accumulation during our tour. Temps remained cool throughout afternoon.

Snowpack

Observed moderate cracking on wind-affected slopes and numerous collapses on south aspects. HS of 130 during a test profile on a NW aspect below TL. 35 cm of recent storm snow. Tilt tests revealed 3 mid-storm instabilities. CTs broke on DH at bottom of the snowpack--CTM (SC) x2 on DH up 20 cm. Bottom 70 cm of the snowpack is facets trending to basal depth hoar.

Avalanche

Students observed several small natural slab avalanches while driving in the bus back to campus. R1-D1 with 6-8" crowns, 8-10' wide that ran 5-6' down a road cut. NW aspects near highway 91.