Northern San Juan
AvalancheColin Mitchell · Feb 12, 2023 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Beautiful mid-winter day, a few high clouds, seasonal temperatures and very light winds. Strong solar radiation made it feel warmer than it was.
Snowpack
We traveled on west, south, north and northwest aspects near and below treeline. Southerly and westerly aspects held up better than expected to the recent warm-up, and we only found crusts on steep southerlies and very open areas. Northerly aspects had about 30 cm of F-4f right-side up snow above a firm mid-pack slab. The upper layer was faceted rounds with an intermittent soft, faceting crust a few centimeters down. Probably an old wind skin. It was not hard enough to affect ski conditions.
Avalanche
We saw a large-very large natural avalanche on a northwest-facing above treeline slope which ran yesterday afternoon.