The snowpack below treeline is weakening/faceting rather quickly with the recent days of cold temperatures and clear nights. In wind-sheltered areas, there was no evidence of recent slab formation or signs of instability. Near treeline is a mixed bag of facets and harder wind-blown slabs, but I did not find many that were continuous. Above treeline is very wind-affected and relatively thin unless you are on the leeward side of a ridge or wind-drifted feature.

Sawatch Range - Buckeye Peak

Up the Sangree Froelicher Hut trail past the hut to the south ridge of Buckeye Peak

The main avalanche I was investigating is coded in a previous observation: https://avalanche.state.co.us/report/471d6925-c10f-4ff2-b13d-594c43d3d65e
This avalanche broke wide across the entire ridgeline and even wrapped around terrain features to the north. There were a couple more avalanches I observed above the main one and in the bowl to the north.
I also triggered a small, fresh Wind Slab avalanche that had reformed on the bed surface as I was mucking around. It would have been harmless if I was closer to it, but it caught me by surprise.

I dug around the crown of a very large avalanche reported yesterday (1/9/25) and found a layer cake of super wind-hardened slabs and layers of weak and compacted facets. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it safely to a flank of the slide where a more discernable weak layer may have been found. By and large, the avalanche failed to the ground, most likely on a continuous layer of facets formed early in the season.

Mostly clear and cold, with clouds building later in the day. A steady breeze made traveling in the alpine a chilly endeavor.