Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Jan 19, 2020 · Aspen
Weather
Light and cool winds above treeline with no visible snow transport. Temperatures felt warm out of the wind. High clouds for most of the morning with clearing in early afternoon.
Snowpack
I traveled on southeast and east-facing slopes and found a generally hollow feeling snowpack with harder layers resting on softer, faceted layers. I experienced a few moderate collapses. There are 2 to 3 buried layers of near-surface facets in the upper snowpack sandwiched between thin, hard slabs. Surface hoar was observed on the surface but was mostly melted by the warm temps during the day. I didn't travel on and shady slopes. A snowpit dug on an east-southeast facing slope near treeline showed a snow depth of 120 cm with propagating test results about a foot down on near surface facets on top of a two inch thick and knife-hard slab.
Avalanche
Overall the avalanche activity was unimpressive in the Sawatch. Along the drive there was almost no activity and with good views out to the Aspen zone boundary and beyond, I only observed the four avalanches listed below.