Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Becs Hodgetts · Mar 20, 2021 · Northern San Juan

Weather

Wind was consistent and gusty enough, and skies had enough blue to keep the snow surface cool.

Snowpack

HS varied from 120-180cm across the bottom of the Basin. I dug on a west slope above treeline with an HS of 125cm. A 5cm thick melt-freeze crust (mfc)on the surface caps 10cm of soft wind broken particles. A thick (75cm) mid-pack (1F) makes up the majority of the snowpack and sits on 10cm of depth hoar at the ground. This layer was not reactive in a Compression test, but did finally fail after 15 hits from the shoulder (=no results in the compression test). This basal layer is extremely weak. However with such a firm and thick overlaying slab, it is unlikely to be triggered. I investigated around rocks at the margins of the slab and this basal depth hoar was not present. A faint dust layer is mixed into the snow at around 35cm from the surface. As the forecast reflects things will be locked up over the next few days with the cold temperatures. The 5cm thick, breakable crust was present on all aspects atl except north, where the snow surface was still soft. Although the wind was blowing, there was minimal snow available for transport.