Southern San Juan

Avalanche

Chris Bilbrey · Apr 15, 2020 · Southern San Juan

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Weather

Cold, crisp, and moderate winds at all elevations.

Snowpack

About 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulated in the La Plata Mountains since Sunday. Steady west to northwest winds has shuffled the new snow into isolated areas with many slopes scoured down to the old, frozen snow surface. Surface conditions range from fast-pack to frozen coral reef (southerlies) to a thin melt-freeze crust above softer snow (northeast and east) to chalky wind board (northwest and north). Winds and cold temperatures prevented southerly-facing slopes from warming and softening except below about 11,000 feet - only the top inch or so softened up. Hard to find signs of unstable snow at present but slide for life conditions are real in this part of the South San Juan. Use extra caution when traveling on steeper slopes where the snow surface is very firm. A fall in unexpected terrain could have dire consequences. None the less, another beautiful day in the mountains.

Avalanche

Observed numerous old loose wet, wet slab, and persistent slab avalanches that ran during late March through early April.