Sawatch

Avalanche

Kreston Rohrig, Arden Feldman · Jan 15, 2018 · Sawatch

View on map

Weather

Mostly sunny day with filtering cloud cover. Light winds gusting to moderate from the NW.

Snowpack

Lots of rumbling collapses in the valley floor that became larger as we approached treeline. Detailed snow profile attached in media. We dug a pit at 11900' on a north-facing slope. HS was 130cm and varied from F to 4F in the upper third with a stiffer mid-pack (1F). Lower third of the snowpack was comprised of varying forms of facets and DH. ECTN

Avalanche

We remotely triggered an avalanche from lower angle terrain that broke 100-150' up and around the corner from where we were standing. The avalanche broke at 12000' on a NE facing slope on a layer of buried facets sandwiched between two 1F hard layers. Crown averaged 2' and hit a maximum height of 5'. Average width was 100' and ran 200' down slope. The largest part of the crown failed in a big linear drift formed on the backside of a clump of krummholz trees.