Sawatch

Avalanche

Anonymous · Dec 11, 2016 · Sawatch

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Weather

Warm, moist air mass moved in to Monarch pass area late Saturday night. By 7am 4" fell. Snowfall continued into early afternoon depositing an additional 3". Snowfall deminished and cleared with cooling temps, leaving only broken clouds till sunset. Winds remained W @ 25-30mph.

Snowpack

HS 27". Cornice had significant loading with approx.48-56" of deposited snow. With the observation and evaluation of collapsing and shooting cracks, team left the location along wind swept dirt. Medium chunks of cornice fell with no affect on snow under the cornice. This location is a steep face( 38-45degrees) dropping 30 vert. ft. above a much lesser (20degrees) angle slope.

Avalanche

None