Sawatch
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · May 17, 2022 · Sawatch
Weather
We were out from ~6 to ~10 AM. Calm winds at all elevations this morning. Clear skies. Temperatures in town dipped below freezing from 3 AM to 7 AM. Temperatures at upper elevations stayed above freezing all night with a low of 37 degrees at Fremont Pass (11,318 ft). 37 degrees was also the low on Independence Pass at 12,000 ft.
Snowpack
Sounding like a broken record- Despite above freezing overnight temperatures, the snow surface saw a solid refreeze. Early in the morning we ascended near treeline north aspects and we found a firm four inch crust overtop of wet snow. The crust was supportable to skis but not booting. Boot pen was to the ground in most places. This shows that once the crust breaks down, wet avalanches can entrain a large amount of snow. Above treeline on north aspects, the snow surface was firm and booting would likely require crampons. When we descended at 9 AM north aspects were still firm. Northeast above treeline slopes were softening. The top ~3 inches were soft on top of of firm, supportable crusts. I dug down in one spot on a northeast slope and found this underlying crust to be 6 inches thick.