Northern San Juan
AvalancheAmy Pertuz · Jan 1, 2021 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Cold morning temps and partly cloudy skies yielded to mostly sunny skies, light winds, and temps in the 20s by the afternoon. Winds and transport in the alpine were non existent in the areas we travelled.
Snowpack
SE slopes had a prominent facet crust combo below the most recent storm on near tree line slopes. Anothee facet crust combo under the Dec 11 layer was also prominent. Both failed when isolating columns, and were the source of some medium to large collapses on this aspect. At 11,500ft we found these layers buried 30cm and 50cm below the surface. SE aspects also had a recent surface crust after the Dec 29 storm, which was topped with a few cm of low density powder. On W-N slopes near and below tree line the whumphs and sensitivity have descreased. We were still able to create small to medium sized collapses on near and below tree line Westerly aspects, but these were not as far reaching or as widespread as they have been since early December. We did not experience any cracking or collapsing on NW or N aspects near and below TL. We observed small surface hoar in bathtub ring fashion at an elevation band between 11,100ft and 11,500ft on W-N-E aspects. Good skiing on NTL NW and N aspects. Surface conditions on E aspects NTL were good but this aspect was more reactive. We avoided NE aspects today.
Avalanche
A recent cycle on NE ATL wind loaded slopes in the zone, many D2.