Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Mike Barney · Mar 2, 2021 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Warm temps and calm wind till the afternoon when light winds out of the west started to blow around 2:00pm

Snowpack

Below and near treeline west had a 5cm frozen crust on the surface in the morning. East and south east at lower elevations had softened in the intense sun and were skiing creamy at 1:30pm. The Ophir area in general was much less wind effected than other areas in the San Juans from last weeks winds. In a snow pit on a southeast aspect near treeline I found moderate compression test results about 30cm down on a melt freeze crust with small facets we are calling the 2/13 interface. Hard compression test results on the December facets around 100cm deep. The base of the snowpack is still 60 to 70cm of large grain loose facets under a pencil hard mid-pack. The low likelihood of triggering with high consequences if triggered scenario was confirmed in this pit. The Frenchmen is a great example of the type of terrain I will continue to avoid. Steep, shallow, rocky, slopes at all elevations are the most likely place to trigger a slide.

Avalanche

A few small Loose Wet avalanches looked like they might have been from today on the west side of Lookout Peak. No other avalanches were observed.