Sawatch

Avalanche

Ben Pritchett and Rich Rogers · Dec 11, 2024 · Sawatch

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Weather

Chilly, bluebird day, with northwest winds decreasing through the day.

Snowpack

The snowpack is around 3 feet deep near treeline, with dramatically less snow below 11,000 feet. The mid-November facets remain a problematic weak layer below the Thanksgiving slab. Monday's storm dropped around 4-6" of very low-density snow in this area, which now caps an upper snowpack facet layer that could become problematic with more loading.

Avalanche

We saw a few recent Wind Slab avalanches that look liked they ran on Tuesday during a period of strong northwesterly winds.