Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnonymous · Mar 21, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Overcast, cloudy mix with a light snow beginning. Calm, little to no wind. Consistent during travel.
Snowpack
15-20 new inches of snow in the past 48 hours. More snow at higher elevations.
Avalanche
Skier triggered avalanche in "the Frenchman", as described in route description. (11,400, North, Below-treeline) Noting the previous tracks, we chose to ski to the right of the old tracks, closer to two small ridge-like, terrain features. Avalanche was triggered by skier 1, on second turn over terrain feature. Skier 1 was caught and carried about 300 feet. Skier 1 ended up on top of debris, which consisted of new snow/storm slab, no other layers broke. Skier 2 was in radio contact with skier 1, immediately after the slide, skied down to skier 1 to assist. Both skiers were able to self rescue and exit under their own power.