Sawatch
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Mar 10, 2021 · Aspen
Weather
Strong winds near ridgetop. Wind transport was light due to small amounts of new snow. Sun and clouds, more sun than clouds.
Snowpack
Traveled on easterly slopes near and below treeline. Below treeline a thin crust sits beneath new snow with faceted snow beneath the crust. If a cohesive slabs is deposited on top, I would expect avalanches either above or below the crust. We would probably need at least a foot in non-wind affected areas to make this happen. The snow on easterly below treeline warmed in the sun today and I observed some sheeting off of the new snow on the curst below. There is also a buried faceted layer down about 40 cm. I got an ECTN results on this layer. It could become reactive with more snow.---Near treeline east-facing we did not find the buried crust and the snow stayed cold with the wind. Drifts were up to 8 inches thick and we observed small cracking and very small sensitive slabs just near ridgetop.