Details

• Date: 2019/12/16

• Observer: Jason Konigsberg
• Organization: Forecaster, CAIC

Location

• BC Zone: Sawatch Range
• Area Description: Chicago Ridge

Weather

• Ridgeline Wind Direction: N
• Wind Loading: Light
• Weather Description: Cold with light winds near treeline to keep things bitter. Small plumes noticed off of the high peaks. The sun popped out at times but high peaks were obscured most of the day.

Snowpack

• Snowpack Description: I traveled on westerly slopes from about 10k to 12k through below treeline and near treeline elevation bands. I did not experience any thundering collapses today which was quite surprising given the snowpack structure. The snowpack structure on westerlies doesn't look too much different from shady slopes, except shallower. With numerous probes of my ski pole, I found weak snow at the ground. This was confirmed in a quick snow pit on a near-treeline southwest-facing slope. Fist hard depth hoar rests under a ~50cm slab of recent snow. I didn't do any long column tests but a quick compression test resulted in a sudden collapse on the depth hoar. The slab is the most consistent on westerly slopes below treeline and into the near treeline elevation band. Once you get above treeline you get into a really thin snowpack with not much of a continuous slab.

Avalanches

	Date	Location/Path	#	Elev	Asp	Type	Trig	SizeR	SizeD
	2019/12/16  †	Sawatch Range	1	>TL	NE	U	N	R3	D3
Date: 2019/12/16 (Estimated) Observer: Jason Konigsberg Organization: Forecaster, CAIC Area Description: South end of Mt Massive Landmark: Sawatch Range Elevation: 13400 ft Average Vertical: 1000 ft Comments: Estimating width at 2000 feet from the map.
	2019/12/16  †	Sawatch Range	1	>TL	E	U	N	R2	D2
Date: 2019/12/16 (Estimated) Observer: Jason Konigsberg Organization: Forecaster, CAIC Area Description: North of Homestake Peak Landmark: Sawatch Range
	2019/12/16  †	Sawatch Range	1	>TL	SE		N	R3	D2.5
Date: 2019/12/16 (Estimated) Observer: Jason Konigsberg Organization: Forecaster, CAIC Area Description: Near Homestake Reservoir possibly. Location unknown Landmark: Sawatch Range

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