Sawatch
AvalancheArden Feldman · Mar 29, 2018 · Sawatch
Weather
Generally overcast with light to moderate snow. Some short periods of sunshine in the morning. Light to moderate winds out of the west blowing the snow around.
Snowpack
3-5 inches of heavily wind effected recent snow. Loaded spots were deeper and I experienced some shooting cracks in such a spot.
Avalanche
I went to check out the previously reported snowmobile triggered persistent slab avalanche from 3/25/18 on the northern flank of Treasurevault Mountain. NNW aspect NTL. Due to a variety of hazards I was only able to check out the crown in the shallowest, rockiest part of the flank. HS in this area ranged from 60-100cm. I found a 20-30cm slab up to 1F hardness sandwiching a weak layer of F hard facets with a 1F hard bed surface. The weak layer was 40-50cm from the ground and large depth hoar made up at least the bottom 30cm of the snowpack. The avalanche appeared to have stepped down to the depth hoar/ground in many other spots. In loaded areas where the crown was up to 3 feet deep, the slab was clearly thicker and I suspect harder. The debris knocked over a few small trees. HS-AM/u-R2-D2. I also observed a resent natural R1-D1 wind slab on a S aspect ATL.