Sawatch
SnowpackAndrea Tupy · Jan 31, 2021 · Sawatch
Weather
Skies were clear, calm and sunny. Temperature was in the upper 20's and rapidly rising to above freezing by the time I got back to the truck.
Snowpack
The snow was wind affected above treeline with obvious signs of scouring on windward slopes. Near tree line on easterly slopes wind affected snow was visible with sastrugi and drifting. Below tree line on east and northeast aspects the snow was soft and mostly supportive to skis with some bottomless areas in dense timber. Canopy clearings on east and south east aspects were setting up quickly as the day warmed turning the snow heavy and dense. Upon digging below treeline on east aspect I found 90 cm of snow with new snow on the top 22 cm. Below the new snow was about 20 cm of 4 finger supportive snow. Under that was a very weak faceted 5 cm layer that localized cracking and whumpfing was failing on. This layer was also the location of failure for ECTP10 and PST 26/100 end.