Sawatch
SnowpackBen Pritchett · Mar 24, 2020 · Sawatch
Weather
Partly to mostly cloudy. Steady moderate southwest winds blew snow all day. Very warm in Gunnison in the afternoon with temps in the low 50's.
Snowpack
Dug on northeast and east facing slopes to assess current avalanche problems. Found evidence of both a shallow (<1 foot deep) un-reactive Wind Slab structure, and a couple foot deep stubborn Persistent Slab structure at the March 18th interface. The Wind Slab structure was not a problem, with no propagation in test or cracking when pushing on drifts at ridgeline. The Persistent Slab structure most likely lead to the nearby avalanche accident on Sunday. The accident occurred on a east to east northeast facing slope, which happens to be the bullseye for a buried facet layer. South of east, the March 18th interface is a knife hard crust with rounding facets above. No propagation in test on southeast, though small column test made it easy to locate the rounding facets. Due east is the worst aspect. There's a thin crust, with facets above and below. Depending upon the stiffness of the crust and whether you look just north or south of east, tests propagated above or below the crust, repeatedly and reliably. East-facing slopes with more than about 16" of recent snow remain concerning. Northeast, the crust is not present, but a single thin layer of facets pops in small column tests, though I couldn't find a propagating test result. This is a much less worrisome strucure.