Sawatch
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Feb 6, 2020 · Aspen
Weather
Below terrain was staying sheltered from strong winds and snow was not wind affected. Near treeline was a total different story. Intense wind drifting and loading. Two inches of new snow when I arrived at 10 AM and another 4" while I was out. As of 3 PM it was snowing S2 or greater.
Snowpack
Below treeline is mostly faceted but supportable to skis. Snow depth is about 1 meter. Foot pen is as far as you can sink. Near treeline is about 1.3 to 1.5 meters deep. There is a supportable mid-pack, yet faceted, one-finger hard slab. Several weak layers the most prominent being the mid-pack faceted layer and facets and depth hoar about 30 cm from the ground. No propagating results in extended column test but this will change quickly as loading continues. All in all the most worrisome component of the snowpack is a scary, very thin and fragile crust on east to southeast-facing slopes about 6" down with fist-hard facets beneath. It almost looks like a rain or rime crust. There is not much of a slab on this layer yet, where I traveled, but once we build a slab, avalanches are close to certain.