Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Jeff Davis · Jan 28, 2025 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Clear sky. Strong winds. Seasonable normal temperatures.

Snowpack

Digging near-treeline on easterly slopes, I found that in areas with less than around 90 cm of snow, the faceting process is running wild, and it was easy to trigger small loose avalanches on shady aspects, but there was not enough of a slab for failures in Extended Column Tests. In drifted areas on similar slopes with over a meter of snow, the mid-pack slab is faceting but still holds some stiffness. Anything with a touch of south, a mixture of crusts was observed. The snowpack seemed tired and stubborn after strong winds from multiple directions and large temperature swings. Travel conditions were meh.

Avalanche

No new avalanche activity observed.