Sawatch
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · May 1, 2021 · Sawatch
Weather
Calm winds and hot. High cloud moved in around noon but mostly clear before that.
Snowpack
Last night was clearer than forecast. This resulted in a solid freeze of the snow surface. The freeze did not last long with the snow softening as soon as it was hit by the sun. I skied south and southeast slopes at 9 AM and 10 AM and I wouldn't have wanted to be out there much longer. The snowpack on these particular above treeline slopes has seen a lot of melt water prior, so my only concern was smaller loose wet avalanches. Concerns of deeper wet avalanches, whether loose wet or wet slab, are more focused on northerly near and above treeline where the snowpack is still dry.---I only observed small rollerballs today on southerly slopes as I descended to near treeline. Northerly rocky areas were rollerballing around 10 AM. I got one large collapse in a flat area but nothing like that on steeper slopes.
Avalanche
Numerous loose wet avalanches above treeline looking across at the Sawatch Range. Most were D1 to D1.5. It is hard to know if they ran yesterday or not.