Sawatch

Avalanche

John Mackinnon ยท Jan 4, 2015

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Weather

Overcast skies, light snow (S-1) throughout most of the day. Moderate west winds near TL with stronger gusts. Light blowing snow. Airtemps ranged from -6 C to -10 C during our time out there (12 pm-4 pm).

Snowpack

Our group dug 4 profiles on SW aspects at 11,700 ft. HS ranged from 70 cm to 85 cm. Our primary layer of concern here is the FC/MFcr combo that was buried on December 13th. This layer was prevalent in 3 of our pits and produced sudden planar test results during small column tests and showed potential for propagation during our large column tests. Of note, one profile with deeper snow and more developed wind slabs on top of the interface produced no results with CTs but did produce repeatable DT results--DTM (SP)x2-and a PST + on the FC/MFcr combo . WInd crusts in the upper 10 cm of the snowpack also produced repeatable sudden planar results during CTs. The skiing near treeline was a variable mix of breakable crusts, supportable crusts and stiff wind affected snow. Below treeline the snow was more uniform and mostly supportable. Our groups also observed 3 loud collapses-1 below TL and 2 at TL as well as moderate cracking on SW aspects at TL.

Avalanche

N.O.