Sawatch
AvalancheAndrea Tupy · Apr 20, 2021 · Sawatch
Weather
Mostly clear skies became partly cloudy by afternoon. The light winds were transporting snow at ridgetop and kept the snowpack BTL in the dark timber cold. Elsewhere, the sun was melting the 3" of new snow making me wish I had my skin wax.
Snowpack
I dug in two locations, near treeline on SSE and below treeline on SE. Both places had a dirt layer about 20 cm down that was on top of a supportive hard ice layer. The near treeline south pit also had a wet dirt layer 53 cm from the ground. Both snowpacks were moist throughout and isothermic. Upon skiing down in the late afternoon, the new snow in the dark timber was still dry and areas that had melted from sun were re-freezing.
Avalanche
Small WL R1D1 avalanches were observed off of rock bands and cornices on south and southeast aspect.