Sawatch

Snowpack

Brad Sawtell ยท Mar 17, 2011

View on map

Weather

Mostly sunny to partly cloudy. By 10 am the temp warmed to just below freezing. By 11 it was +2C. At noon, at 12k it was +2C. Mostly W wind. Gusty at times. Observed very little blowing snow. By 1pm, it was so warm I could hear the snow melting.

Snowpack

Crusty surfaces early but quickly the surface warmed. By noon, I was already thinking about a turn around time. I was not as concerned with the spx where I was but getting back to the trail head safely was the concern. At 12k the spx was closer to being dry than to wet. Soft wind effected surface and no signs of instability. Below Boss Lake, spx, snow surface very wet. Spx was becoming cohesion-less the lower I got. Kind of eerie.