Southern San Juan
AvalancheMatt Huber · Dec 29, 2022 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Moderate to heavy snowfall throughout the day with winds strong enough to drift new snow.
Snowpack
The total snow depth on a northeast-facing slope near treeline ranged between120-160 centimeters. A very clear layer of 1-2mm surface hoar is visible 45 centimeters from the surface, and an obvious layer of buried surface facets 15 cm below that. Both layers produced propagating results in extended column tests with 8-9 taps from the wrist (ECTP9). The basal facets and depth hoar are beginning to gain strength but failures can still be produced with hard, non propagating results in Extended column tests.
Avalanche
Stud 1 produced a small natural avalanche that put debris on the runaway truck ramp lane 12/28 around 2000. A large natural avalanche was observed west of Creede on Table mountain late in the day 12/29 Above treeline on an east-facing slope.