Sawatch
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · May 10, 2022 · Sawatch
Weather
Windy with scattered clouds. Cold in the shade in the morning. Warmed up quickly after 9 AM.
Snowpack
The snow surface froze well overnight with an extended period of clear skies and temperatures close to freezing. Southerly slopes were slick and hard in the morning and I was unable to poke my pole through the surface crusts. Slide for life was a bigger concern than avalanches. By 9 AM southeasterly slopes softened slightly at ridgetop with corn snow conditions where sheltered from the wind. The continued melting and freezing of the upper snowpack with very little precipitation had led to a mature spring snowpack on east to south through west-facing slopes. The spring snow coverage in the Mosquito Range is the thinnest it has been in quite a few years. Southerly slopes near to below treeline have very little if any snow. The snow line on northerly slopes is about 11k feet.