Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · May 28, 2024 · Sawatch
Weather
Clear skies with clouds building in the PM. Partly clouds when I left at 12 PM. Not much wind. It felt very warm, especially near treeline.
Snowpack
As mentioned above, the only concern above treeline is snow from this past weekend moistening and running as loose wet avalanches in a firm crust beneath. I was around a steep northeast-facing slope at about 10 AM and saw a very small wet avalanche and active rollerballing. Northeast seemed to be the most reactive as the snow has the furthest to go to bake down and consolidate with melt forms below. North and northwest-facing slopes above treeline were very firm. The past weekend wind blasted these slopes. You would need boot crampons to travel up steep north and northwest, upper-elevation slopes. Any windward slopes that were wind-blasted, are much safer avalanche-wise, as there is no new snow to get wet. Slide for life is the main issue. I descended an above treeline southeast-facing slope and found the same moist snow mentioned above. I was on slopes less than 40 degrees but my guess is I would have been able to trigger small wet avalanches in steeper terrain. Once I got to near treeline, there was no moist snow or sign of a recent storm. The surface was a melt-freeze crust. This crust was supportable and the skiing was corn-like on open slopes. Near rocks and near the melt-line, I got some small collapses.
Avalanche
One small wet avalanche occurred today. Numerous small wet avalanches from the past few days. The only one that was larger than D1 was on a westerly-facing, constricted gully on Mt Massive. This probably occurred about 5 or 6 days ago.