Sawatch

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Nov 2, 2018 · Sawatch

Weather

Much warmer day today than yesterday with temps at 11,500 feet near freezing. Windy near ridgetop but snow transport was fairly light.

Snowpack

Thin snowpack from the trailhead at about 10,500 to treeline. Weak and faceted with thin crusts but not enough snow for avalanches at the lower elevations. Once I got above about 11,500 the snowpack got deeper at about 12 to 18 inches of settled snow but a mostly soft snowpack with no slab. I could see small areas of wind-drifted snow on easterly slopes near ridgetop that could potentially be a problem but not consistent across a slope and pockety. Bottom line- There are small areas near ridgetop where you can trigger an avalanche. Other areas are just weak snow and will be a problem when loaded.