Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Nov 28, 2020 · Sawatch
Weather
Light winds with not a cloud in the sky.
Snowpack
No shooting cracks or collapsing observed. In near and above treeline terrain we found about six inches of settled snow from Nov. 23/24 storm. This snow mostly rested on very hard (knife hard) snow. We dug on an east-facing near treeline slope at about 11,800 feet and found small-grained facets beneath the knife-hard slab. Snow depth about 1 meter. On a sheltered north-facing near-treeline slope we found very weak snow but no slab.
Avalanche
Several small natural avalanches observed likely running on Nov 25 from the strong westerly winds. None looked to step down to the ground. East-facing avalanches looked about a foot deep. Best guess is recent wind slab over near-surface facets above the knife-hard snow.