Sawatch

Avalanche

Ian Hoyer ยท Dec 8, 2016

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Weather

Lightly snowing through the morning and early afternoon. Winds died down quickly as you descended below treeline.

Snowpack

Toured on NW-N-NE slopes, below and near treeline. Found ~15-25 cm of 1-2 mm facets at the bottom of the snowpack on all slopes. Newer snow comprised the rest of the pack, averaging around 50 cm total depth. Very little slab development. Once I got just above treeline there were a few places with slightly harder (~4 finger) snow, but no real widespread slab development in this area. No cracking or collapsing. The true above treeline S and W facing terrain visible during the tour was blown bare (as per usual), but unusually, so was a NE-E facing slope that usually is nicely loaded and develops a big cornice.

Avalanche

None