Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey · Dec 21, 2021 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Beautiful winter solstice! It felt and looked like winter in the mountains. Moderate westerly winds required an extra layer along ridgetops.
Snowpack
The snowpack has turned quiet, but lingering instabilities are slow to heal on northerly-facing slopes. This was evident in snowpits on multiple aspects where Extended Column Test propagated across the entire column and the block slid into our laps. Abundant sunshine over the last few days contributed to significant settlement of the snowpack and we didn't find any concerning weak layers on east-facing slopes where we traveled. Southerly-facing slopes remain thinnest overall but are deep enough for efficient travel. Snow surfaces were a mixed-bag. Loose, cohesionless facets have developed on shady slopes or wind-sheltered areas with some resting above a firm layer in the alpine. Broad expanses of hard wind-board exist on alpine slopes with shallow, rocky spots looming around steep convexities. Sunny slopes at all elevations formed a 1 to 2 inch melt-freeze crust by the afternoon and was more supportable in open areas versus heavily treed slopes. Near treeline areas still have the most concerning top to bottom structure and where we expect the Persistent Slab avalanche problem to become touchier first.