Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Mar 24, 2022 · Sawatch
Weather
Winds were strong today at ridgetop out of the northwest. The winds were just as strong as yesterday. Snow was continuing to move onto southerly slopes. In alpine areas, the surface is hard and wind sculpted.
Snowpack
Winds kept the snow surface cool near ridgetop. Wind loading near the ridge on southerly slopes was still the main issue. Once down off the ridge on southerly slopes, the snow was moist but it was only 2 cm on top of a crust so there wasn't the volume to get any wet avalanches going. Once the wind backs off, maybe some of the drifted snow will get wet be a bit more of an issue tomorrow. Regardless, the crusts are strong and they won't break down will we get into warmer days and nights. I also traveled on near to below treeline east-facing slopes and found no wet issues there. The snow was soggy close to trees but any open slope was supportable with strong crusts. I dug on one east-facing upper-end below treeline slope and found 1 inch of moist snow on top of an 8 inch thick crust with faceted snow below the crust to the ground. Old, frozen perc columns were found through the faceted layer to the ground.
Avalanche
Several avalanches noted in Delmonica Gulch. Can't say for sure if they were today or yesterday. The biggest of them (D1.5) looked pretty fresh.