Sawatch

Avalanche

Katie Konigsberg · Mar 1, 2021 · Sawatch

View on map

Weather

Clear, calm, warm, no active wind loading

Snowpack

South facing below treeline was mostly melted out. Snow on easterly BTL slopes was less than a meter deep and mostly faceted. Many above-treeline ridges and peaks on all aspects were wind-scoured and some were bare. The snow that we did find above treeline was very hard and wind-packed. Steep easterly slopes looking west towards Tincup Pass had continuous snow cover. A near treeline east-northeast snowpit had a snow depth of 193 cm, but as snow depths were highly variable, this seemed to be a deeper area due to wind-loading. We didn't dig to the ground, but in the top meter we found faceted layers sandwiched between wind-drifted slabs. We got a result of ECTP23 26 cm from the surface on a layer of small facets.

Avalanche

We had a good view of the surrounding mountains from our summit and did not observe any recent avalanches. There were a few small old avalanches on east facing slopes.