Southern San Juan
SnowpackKrista Beyer · Dec 27, 2024 · Southern San Juan
Weather
S1 observed for the majority of the day in La Plata Canyon along with moderate gusts out of the north. The Columbus Basin weather station (upcanyon at 10,785 ft) picked up about .4 in SWE in the last 24 hours on top of another .4 in SWE on the 25th. In the vicinity of Gibbs peak, corresponding snowfall measured in at about 9 inches at a similar elevation. The La Plata Canyon road at around 9000 ft picked up about 5 inches.
Snowpack
Here's the short story: new snow is sitting on super weak old snow. There is minor slab development in new snow in open areas and no slab development in sheltered areas. Wind-drifted areas are the most prone to developing a slab that can be triggered by a skier or rider. Here's the longer story: I dug a couple of hasty pits and one full pit between 10,800 and 11,200 ft on west, east, and northwest aspects. I found between 70-80cm of old snow that had faceted into 2mm grains on each of these respective slopes. The east-facing pit had a small 2cm melt-freeze crust capping the facets and beneath the new snow. I did not receive any planar results in my snowpit. I received easily broken results midway through the new storm snow and moderate broken results at the new/old snow interface.