Northern San Juan
AvalancheChris Bilbrey · Feb 5, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Strong morning winds blowing and moving snow in the alpine decreased by early-afternoon, but was still felt along ridge tops. Cold day in general kept the motivation high to keep moving.
Snowpack
The recent wind assault has wrecked havoc to majority of alpine slopes. We found deepest drifts in the near treeline band on north to east-facing slopes. Gullies are heavily cross-loaded and wind-drifted slabs in open alpine areas are non-continuous across a slope and adjacent to areas scoured down to the old snow surface. Southeast-facing slopes still harbor the weakest and most worrisome structure. This is something to keep an eye on with a strong storm arriving on northwest flow. We observed cracking in the snow surface along ridge tops in isolated areas, but cracks did not propagate outward. Even below treeline, micro terrain features built firm, punchy slabs that easily cracked with ski pressure but still behaved stubborn and didn't move.
Avalanche
Observed an older avalanche on a southeast-facing slope that most likely ran sometime during the past week or so. Originated at treeline and below a rocky outcrop. Slide seems to be the product of a recent north wind event.