Sawatch

Avalanche

Aaron Ball · Jan 9, 2023 · Sawatch

Weather

Mild temperatures and light winds from the SW. Began lightly snowing mid-day and continued off and on throughout the afternoon with slightly increased intensity around 5:00.

Snowpack

Snowpack ranged between 70-100 cm on E aspect BTL. Surface snow was soft from the relatively recent storms but had an approximately 1-2 cm melt freeze crust on southerly aspects with any incline. Where there was no crust, the snow skied well with a supportable mid-pack. Mid-pack consisted of a 1F to pencil hard slab, which sat atop the basal facets. Small column tests produced sudden results within the depth hoar, likely at the Thanksgiving interface (Nov facets). ECT's did not produce propagating results, but PST's did. Another of our group traveled to a NW facing slope NTL and found snow heights of 65-95 cm. Snow surface was variably supportive with some occasional trap doors. Several significant collapses were observed on NW, E, and SE aspects.

Avalanche

None observed