Northern San Juan
SnowpackJasper Thompson · Mar 27, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Broken to overcast sky. Moderate southerly wind transporting snow near and below treeline. Periods of S1 snowfall in the afternoon.
Snowpack
Windslabs can be found in isolated locations on Northerly aspects NTL. They are primarily seen as subtle rounded pillows, in open areas, and are made of a 20-30cm pencil hard slab on top of four finger hard faceted weak layer. Additionally a second weak layer exists about 100cm down, likely at the interface between February's dry period, and March's snowfall. Both these weak layers failed in Compression Tests with Easy to Moderate hits and had Sudden Fracture Character on a NE slope at 11,500'. Localized collapses could be felt while skinning on the margins of the slab, but slope cuts on small 30-35° slopes produced no cracking or noticeable collapses while descending. In addition East-South aspects NTL and BTL have a firm melt freeze crust, and I will take cheese with my Firnspiegel. Soft snow and good turns can be found by staying due north on wind protected features.