Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Dec 24, 2020 · Sawatch
Weather
Clear skies and mild temps after a very cold start to the day.
Snowpack
The four inches that fell with strong winds on the night of December 22nd formed a dense slab about a foot thick. This slab is very cohesive across terrain features and slopes, especially east-facing near treeline. The slab sits on extremely weak snow and then a crust. The depth hoar below the crust is probably the least consequential layer in this awful setup.--- Unusually touchy avalanche conditions. It was easy to trigger large avalanches, even remotely from a distance away.
Avalanche
Three remote triggered avalanches in easterly facing terrain near treeline. These are breaking under the weight of a person, from a trigger away from the start zones. Some of these avalanches are pulling back into lower angled slopes above the typical start zones. Even travel on lower angled ridge-top terrain may be dangerous when connected to steep slopes below.