Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Mar 6, 2021 · Aspen
Weather
Warm with high clouds. The alpine stayed quite cool with the clouds and a light breeze.
Snowpack
I dug in three very different places. First was on a west-facing slope near treeline. The snowpack on westerlies is very weak but there isn't much of a slab. HS = 120 cm. ECTX. Westerlies would be something to watch if we ever get a big spring storm. The snow surface was dry on this slope. Second, I dug on an east-facing above treeline slope. The snow height was 165 cm. ECTX. Basal weak layers are strengthening. The slab is up to pencil hard. The top 6 inches of snow was moist. This is the last storm's snow Probing in this area revealed a 160 to 200 cm snowpack. I did find a couple shallow areas to walk through but no collapsing around these areas. Lastly, I dug on a south-facing below treeline slope on the way out. The new snow was melted down to just a couple inches. This snow was wet and sitting on a crust that was supportable to skis but not boots. I found perc columns down 30 cm in this 90 cm deep snowpack. The facets near the ground are moist but it looks like free water is a ways from reaching this layer.
Avalanche
Numerous small but some long-running wet loose avalanches. I observed a few slabs but it is really hard to tell if they are fresh or if they are really old and from southerly slopes melting out.