Northern San Juan
AvalancheRebecca Hodgetts · Dec 29, 2023 · Northern San Juan
Weather
28F, mostly clear skies, and very light winds. Temperatures were noticeably cooler on north and below treeline slopes.
Snowpack
I traveled on southwest and northwest slopes near and below treeline. Climbed up a rocky ridge to 12 200'. Slopes above treeline were mostly scoured. Southeast slopes and gullies held snow. A snowpit on east near treeline was a whopping 50cm deep and unreactive in snowpit tests. Northwest was marginally better at 70cm deep. Also unreactive in snowpit tests. Both aspects had 10-40cm of surface and near-surface facets, which will be our next problem layer when it snows. Most notable for me was the rapid degradation of the near and below treeline slabs on all aspects - not just north. Southerlies are either bare ground or thin combinations of crust-facet interfaces with depth hoar at the base.
Avalanche
This avalanche was recorded in a prior observation.