Sawatch
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Nov 12, 2018 · Sawatch
Weather
Cold and mostly clear with clouds drifting through the area now and again. No wind near treeline and no evidence of wind loading above treeline.
Snowpack
We didn't cover a lot of terrain but we did spend some time digging on a northeast-facing, near treeline slope. On this slope the snowpack structure is not great and there are two distinct weak layers. One is above a crust in the lower snowpack and the other is at the ground. An extended column test produced no propagating results and a propagation saw test saw no propagation fractures to the end of the column. Although these test scores indicate stability, the snowpack structure is concerning. The slab was generally soft and not very cohesive in the area we dug. I would be very skeptical of any wind-loaded slope where the slab is thicker, harder and much more likely to propagate a fracture.