Northern San Juan
AvalancheColin Mitchell · Feb 15, 2022 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Morning clouds gave way to clear skies by midday. Temperatures around freezing with light but gusty southerly winds.
Snowpack
We traveled near and below treeline slopes on mostly east and northeast aspects. Below treeline, the snowpack was completely faceted and cohesionless. HS varied from 50 to 70 cm. As we climbed into the near-treeline band, snow depth increased to an average of around a meter, and there was a supportable slab down about 20 cm. We did encounter a thinner snowpack on ridges and mid-slope terrain features. Here, the snowpack was more like below treeline, completely faceted and about 50-60 cm in depth. We dug our profile in a shallow gully feature right at treeline. The upper snowpack was F-hard facets overlying a stout slab. This structure is unconcerning now, but will not support a new load. There were a few small windslabs near the ridgeline, but they only extended down about 10 meters.
Avalanche
No new activity observed