Sawatch

Avalanche

Jason Konigsberg · Apr 18, 2021 · Sawatch

Weather

A mix of sun and clouds today. It was warm without much wind. A slight breeze helped to keep things a little cooler.

Snowpack

Obs from a rec trip---Yesterday evenings winds drifted snow into slabs on above treeline slopes facing east through south. The drifting was just near ridgetop and the snow was not affected by the wind once you got about 100 ft down from the ridge. I got a few small collapses in wind-drifted snow near ridgetop on a southeast-facing slope. No signs of any instability related to wet avalanches. On sunny slopes, the snow has baked down to just a few inches. No rollerballs observed. Good, supportable travel conditions BTL. A bit gloppy in the morning. On a northerly slope I skied, there was no sluffing and the snow was not wind affected in a steep chute.

Avalanche

I got a report of a natural wind slab avalanche further south on Mt Massive that was visible this morning. I wasn't able to get a look to confirm. Estimates coded below.