Northern San Juan
SnowpackKrista Beyer · Nov 23, 2024 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Cloud cover rolled in early morning and provided some insulation and warmer temperatures. Calm winds before the storm.
Snowpack
No big surprises observed in the world of snowpack conditions. An over 10 day dry spell + short November days + cold nights = faceting of the snowpack. The top 15-25 cm is the weakest and is beginning to produce small sluffs on steep shallow terrain features below treeline. At near treeline elevations, the midpack maintains 1mm faceting grains with a four-finger to one-finger hand hardness. I dug on a west-facing slope at around 11,900 feet. Surface snow was soft. A midpack melt-freeze crust was unreactive to tests. The basal layer is made up of a 10 cm firm preserved melt-freeze crust. I found 15-25 cm of firm wind-compacted snow in north facing near treeline start zones. Northerly open slopes at upper elevations seem to have the widest distribution of firm impenetrable wind-compacted surfaces. Wind-affected snow disappeared quickly once I dropped below ridgeline.