Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Apr 27, 2019 · Sawatch
Weather
Strong, gusty winds from the west. Skies were mostly clear with times of more cloud cover in the afternoon as small, dry storms rolled through.
Snowpack
We traveled in an area that slid in March so observation is mostly from a shallow snowpack area. Below treeline very supportable, mature spring snowpack. As we got near treeline the top 15 cm of snow was wet but still supportable. Above treeline the snow surface was dry, wind-packed snow. Below the recent snow there was about 15 cm of wet snow. Although the snowpack was supportable, it was easy to push a ski pole to the ground. This was beneath the old crown and the snow height was about 90 cm. Above the old crown the snow height was 160 cm. The upper snowpack structure was the same as above with cold, dry snow capping wet snow but the slab below was dense and moist but not wet. An old ice layer was found from frozen melt water in the snowpack at 115 cm from the ground. The top of the basal facets begins at 75 cm from the ground. This layer is moist but it does not seem like it has seen melt water yet.---The most concerning snowpack is above last night's rain/snow line where a cloudy night and above freezing temperatures continue to generate melt water in the pack. Wet slabs around 12,000 feet in snowpack areas less than around a meter deep are top of the list of concerns. Places where it rained last night already have seen long stretches of above freezing temperatures, were previously wet, and it seemed like the rain had little impact.---Wind loading above treeline was light but small wind slabs in steep terrain could be possible.
Avalanche
None observed.