Sawatch
AvalancheJeremy Primmer · Feb 5, 2022 · Sawatch
Weather
Cold and windy, blowing snow on ridgelines all day
Snowpack
Even though we watched blowing snow on ridgelines all day, the wind slabs were thin and only produced cracking underfoot. We dug into a shallow northwest-facing slope above the treeline with 83cm of snow. We found a very weak structure with large soft facets making up most of the snowpack. However, we did not get any propagating results on deeper layers. Less than 100’ away, we dug a pit where the snow depth was 170cm deep and the slab from the holiday storm is still pencil hard. At the top of the snowpack near treeline and above on a variety of aspects, we found either a crust-facet combo or a wind slab-facet combo that will be reactive in the next large loading event. We did not have any issues with loose dry avalanches near treeline in this location. Below treeline, on sheltered east and northeast-facing slopes, we easily triggered loose dry avalanches on any slope steeper than 35 degrees. These small slides entrained the top 10-20cm of the snowpack, but we did not trigger anything larger than a D1.
Avalanche
Easily triggered small loose dry avalanches on protected slopes below treeline.