Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Amy Pertuz · Dec 12, 2019 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Mild temps, light winds. Increasing cloud cover.

Snowpack

The 22” of storm snow from Monday is starting to show some settlement, but still remaining cold and light and generally non-slabby on shadier aspects. HS near treeline on a NW aspect 115cm, with 20 cm of depth hoar overlain by a fairly robust 1F midpack slab. The winds Monday night and Tuesday did not wholesale rearrange the snow in this zone, rather wind effect seems restricted to near ridgelines on Easterly aspects.

Avalanche

Got a better look Wednesday at a fresh windslab on an E aspect in the Paradise drainage which was spotted Tuesday, not there Monday. The slab was R1D2 below a ridge line with fresh cornice built up, likely triggered by wind driven snow.