Sawatch

Avalanche

John Mackinnon · Jan 19, 2020 · Sawatch

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Weather

High thin clouds, mild temperatures and light westerly winds

Snowpack

Surface hoar present on the surface of the snow and persisting throughout the day on sheltered and shady slopes. Average snow depth of about 140 cm in a relatively sheltered ESE slope at 11,250 ft. Bottom 30 cm of the snowpack consists of faceted grains showing some rounding. There is a "beefy" mid-pack slab present in this part of the monarch zone with over 75 cm of 1F hard snow resting on the facets. No results in compression tests but a deep tap test produced a sudden result on the basal facets--DTH (SC) at 5 cm above the ground.

Avalanche

We did not observe any avalanches today.