Sawatch

Avalanche

Jason Konigsberg, Rich Rogers · Mar 19, 2020 · Sawatch

Weather

Storm totals at 2 PM were about 7 inches. The snow was tapering off at this point. Times of heavy snow but for the most part S2 precip rates. Wind were calm below treeline and light to moderate near treeline.

Snowpack

Below treeline the new snow didn't do much to elevate the avalanche danger. The storm snow was not slabby at all. Conditions were deep dust on crust with no cracking or signs of instability. The only concern would be Loose Dry avalanches running on slick crusts but only in very steep sustained terrain. This would be most of the concern near treeline too. There was drifting at this elevation but not extensive and we really had to search out the drifted spots. At higher elevations it would be possible to trigger mostly small Wind Slab avalanches in specific areas near ridgetop. In the places we observed, slabs were relegated to ridgetop and then entraining loose snow below, if you could get them to move. ---Unrelated to the new snow, we observed an east-facing slope near the trailhead with deep cracks, but no avalanche, around a snowmobile track. Upon investigation we found a snow depth of about 85 cm with moist depth hoar and basal facets. This was at 10,500 ft. After gaining 500 feet in elevation, the snowpack became wintry and dry with no moist layers.

Avalanche

Testing numerous small, southerly, near-treeline, wind-drifted slopes we were able to ski cut one very small avalanche. It would be less than a D1 if that size existed.