Sawatch
SnowpackJeremy Primmer · Apr 4, 2022 · Sawatch
Weather
Clear skies and warm temperatures until 2:30 when cloud moved in and the wind speeds increased. Blowing snow on ridgelines all day but the loading was ineffective. Temperature at the car at 4:30 was 52 degrees.
Snowpack
We found a strong refreeze at the trailhead overnight and had supportable snowmobiling in the morning and skiing in the afternoon. It is a tale of two snowpacks right now. Below treeline and near treeline on east to south through west-facing slopes are transitioning to a spring snowpack, the surface has not quite corned up, but it is getting close. Near the treeline, on northerlies, and above the treeline, the snowpack is staying wintery. On a northwest-facing slope near the treeline, we did not find any crusts in the upper snowpack, and the snow was dry. The mid-winter facets were 1m down and four-finger plus in hardness and insulated by a thick one-finger hard slab above it. This location has seen a significant amount of wind loading, and on other northwest slopes, the snowpack will not be as deep. The near treeline snow height was around 230cm and deeper than 300cm in many locations above the treeline. This was a deeper snowpack than many other locations in the Sawatch. Above the treeline was a collection of small loose wet avalanches, all starting from rock bands. A majority of them were on east and southeast slopes. On southeast slopes, we found a 20cm thick pencil to knife hard crust 40cm down that would make it hard for a rider to affect anything underneath it, but it had small facets above it that could cause a failure in the upper snowpack with additional loading. The crusts became thinner as you wrapped around east and northeast-facing slopes, and the facets were smaller, harder to identify, and less reactive in tests. The snowpack was similar on a west-facing slope, but the snow height was 230cm from westerly winds scouring it. We did not see any wind slab avalanches, but easterly slopes were wind loaded. At this location above the treeline the mid-winter facets are buried deeply under a stiff slab making them hard to affect.