Sangre de Cristo
AvalancheAndrea Tupy · Apr 2, 2021 · Sangre de Cristo
Weather
The days were hot, it did freeze at night but warmed up quickly. My truck said it was 51 at the trailhead on Friday morning at 10:00. There were a few clouds on Friday and a slight breeze that kept it slightly cooler, but still well above freezing. The breeze was noticebly warm below 10,000 feet at 3 pm.
Snowpack
I dug pits on south, east and north aspects mostly below treeline and one near treeline on SE. South and east snowpacks, both near and below treeline, were wet on the surface from intense solar and turned moist about 5 cm down. There were 50 to 80 cm of base facets that were still dry although more moisture was present on Friday. The quick pit I dug on the north below treeline was at 10,000' and was about a meter deep. The top 7 cm were moist and melting over 17 cm of moist 4 finger snow. Below that was a dry 1 finger slab for 30 cm and 45 cm of dry base facets. No buried crusts or signs of free water were present on the north. Overall, the snow was supportive to skis but boot pen was close to the ground. The snowpack was deteriorating rapidly with unsupportive snow located around trees and rocks where it became shallower even near treeline.
Avalanche
One small LWs was encountered BTL along the trail. It originated on east aspect from a steep, rocky outcrop. Another small LWs from rocks was noticed ATL on north and debris from a larger, older avalanche was observed NTL on south aspect.