Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey · Dec 10, 2018 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Warm and sunny below treeline. Moderate north winds with a few strong gusts NTL and ATL for majority of the morning and till around 2 pm. Snow drifts observed on many higher elevation peaks and we began to feel the wind around 9800 ft.
Snowpack
Traveled on north, northeast, east, and south aspects. Did not observe cracking and collapsing as did during last storm cycle in this zone. Snowpack below 10,000 ft is thin and contains a lot of vegetation. Near surface facets observed on north and northeast aspects while east and south aspects are developing a sun crust with thin layer of near surface facets above. Surface hoar observed in wind-sheltered, below treeline meadows. Moderate north winds formed small wind-drifted pockets near treeline and higher directly below ridgelines on east and south aspects that were reactive to the weight of a skier but not moving far. Very little avalanche activity in La Plata Mountains so far this season. Many northerly and easterly-facing slopes ATL have variable snow cover with some heavily wind-loaded and others scoured to rocks. Surface slab above weak facets is slowly becoming unconsolidated in many areas and buried weak layers are showing no signs of gaining strength.