Sawatch
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Feb 27, 2019 · Sawatch
Weather
Sustained winds were light at 13k feet in the morning. Gusts estimated 20 to 30. Clear skies to start the day with increasing clouds to mostly cloudy skies by 3 PM. Very warm.
Snowpack
Snowpack supportable to skis from trailhead to ridgetop. Ski pen was just about 2 to 4 inches at all elevations. Boot pen only 6 to 8 inches where I dug at 12,200 feet on an east-facing slope. An extended column test failed 40 cm from the ground after the first shoulder blow in 3 mm depth hoar. This is the first propagating result in depth hoar that I have got in some time. The snow depth was 120 to 130 cm on this east-facing slope where it wasn't wind loaded.---Overall in this area the snowpack has some strength in above treeline areas where slopes have consistently been wind loaded throughout the winter and the snowpack is now deep. Just downslope though, the snowpack becomes much weaker as you descend into sheltered areas.