Southern San Juan

Avalanche

Chris Bilbrey · Nov 11, 2020 · Southern San Juan

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Weather

Crisp temperatures to start but warmed nicely under mostly sunny skies. Windy conditions along ridge tops as we approached treeline.

Snowpack

Overall snow depths in the southern half of the La Plata Mountains are about half what the northern area bodes - generally 1 to 2 feet above 11,000 feet. Terrain below 10,000 feet is still to thin to travel through. Weak, faceted snow at the ground was more difficult to locate on the northeast-facing terrain where we traveled. Where we did find this layer, it was too thin to contribute to propagating results in ECTs and overlying slab was soft. Southerly-facing slopes are quickly settling and the snow surface was getting warm and most by mid-day. Winds were moving snow at higher elevations, but loading was forming soft slabs versus drum-hard slabs.

Avalanche

None observed.