Sawatch
SnowpackAndrea Tupy · Mar 24, 2021 · Sawatch
Weather
Cold, windy and snowing. Gusty, cross loading, winds out of the northeast were loading pockets and terrain features below treeline and preventing new snow accumulating on the ridge. Snow transport to the west side was obvious with loading below the ridge. The snow let up a little, winds started to die down, and the sun peaked out momentarily around noon.
Snowpack
I did a quick look at the snowpack on the west side before digging on the east aspect, both below treeline. On west, just below ridgeline in a wind-loaded area the snow was 195 cm deep with a sun crust 55 cm down. The top 55 cm consisted of new and wind-affected snow from the previous 48 hours. Boot pen was 75 cm and ski pen was 25 cm in this location. On the east aspect the snowpack was 155 cm deep. There were multiple ice layers with ice columns forming between the top two crust layers. See pit diagram for more detail. Cross-loading on the east aspects from the northeast wind was apparent with drifts and wind-loaded areas around terrain features.