Sawatch
SnowpackBrian Lazar · Nov 19, 2014 · Sawatch
Weather
cool, light winds out of the west, a bit stronger at ridgetop. Partly cloudy skies.
Snowpack
Shallow with and heavily wind affected above treeline. HS near treeline ranges from 20-30 cm on S and W facing slopes, 40-60 cm on east facing slopes, and 60-100 cm on northeast, north, and northwest facing slopes. Very little in the way of slab development near and below treeline. No signs of instability. Surface hoar (1-3mm) present on all east and north facing sheltered terrain. NSF beginning to form in top 5-10 cm of the snowpack. Small wind slabs near ridgetop on northeast-east-south facing slopes, but the slabs are only about a foot thick and mostly soft (1F to 4F). None were reactive to snowpack tests. East to southeast to south through west facing slopes had enough coverage to not hit too many obstacles. Snowpack consists entirely of recent storm snow on these slopes, and no weak layers at this stage. North facing terrain has a 1-2 foot thick soft (1F to 4F) slab over about 10cm of 1-2 mm facets and depth hoar from the early season snow. This combination for Persistent Slabs problems was patchy and isolated to small patches of terrain (maybe 30 feet across) that held onto early season snow. The slabs were not reactive to snowpack tests.