Sawatch

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Mar 14, 2020 · Sawatch

Weather

Windy and overcast with short periods of S1. The snow mostly fell as graupel and accumulations were only a couple of inches by 3 PM. Around 3 PM intense precipitation moved through the area with moderate winds and heavy graupel. Skies looked to be breaking and the storm clearing while driving back to Leadville. Five inches of new snow fell in town.

Snowpack

We were riding and practicing snowmobile skills below treeline. We did not observe any near treeline or above treeline terrain. The snowpack is supportable to snowmobiles below treeline..until it isn't. Faceted snow lies beneath a 1-2 foot dense, upper snowpack slab. There wasn't any distinct, thin weak layers in the mid to lower snowpack, just snow that was faceted and much softer than the upper snowpack. There was no sign of rain or and other sign of warming and Loose Wet avalanches. The road back to the Denny Creek trailhead stayed firm throughout the day.