Sawatch

Avalanche

John Mackinnon ยท Mar 1, 2015

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Weather

Obscured skies, very light snow (S-1) throughout the day, air temps averaged -3C. Light SW winds near and below TL with no blowing snow observed.

Snowpack

Our group dug test profiles on SW aspects near TL. HS averaged around a meter. Snowpack structure consisted of about 30 cm of late February "storm snow" resting on a series of facet/crust combinations in the middle of the snowpack. The bottom third of the snowpack was made of of large rounding facets and depth hoar. Compression tests showed repeatable sudden test results on the facet/crust combinations throughout the middle of the snowpack. Also, there is a thin crust down 15 cm from the surface that produced repeatable sudden planar test results in CTs as well as an ECTP 2 x 1. It most likely formed during last week's break in the storm (Tuesday-Wednesday) and was then buried on Thursday 2/26. Further inspection revealed a small layer of facets on top of the buried crust. Recent storm snow has been showing a bit more cohesion today than earlier this weekend.

Avalanche

We did not observe any avalanche activity.