Southern San Juan
AvalancheAnonymous · Feb 3, 2015 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Sunny, warm with strong gusts from N to S. Very little snow seemed to be moved in general but some pockets of snow movement were observed.
Snowpack
At treeline there looked to be snow loading on the South side of East facing ribs/gullies. When I approached the saddle (not my route of ascent) I observed a ~5' South facing cornice. The South facing drainage below was sunny, sheltered from the wind and appeared very soft (which it was upon skiing it).
Avalanche
I was very surprised to find a South facing cornice here but it made sense with the unusual wind direction. I cut from the lowest, most rounded side of the cornice out to a sheltered area of what I figured was wet, very consolidated snow based on skiing similar aspects recently. I would not have done this if I was skiing onto anything other than a South facing slope routinely blasted by sun. Also, while there was a terrain trap of trees right below the cornice, the slope angle also decreases quickly. The ski cut sent cracks back through the cornice and half of it collapsed and slid about 10-15 feet stopping in the trees where the slope angle decreased.