Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey · Feb 11, 2021 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Mild, sunny day with a steady breeze at higher elevations. The snow surface got moist on southerly-facing slopes sheltered by the wind. Southwest wind increased during the afternoon along ridgetops with no drifting observed.
Snowpack
Overall avalanche conditions continue to improve below treeline where recent warm temperatures have allowed the upper snowpack to stiffen. Slopes facing north to east still harbor concerning weak layers below January's stout slab, but the slab strength is holding the bridge up above weaker snow below. Reactivity in slab, weak layer changes the higher you climb in elevation and stability test near treeline continue to fail with full propagation across isolated columns - albeit with harder force than earlier in the season. The weaker snow is just a bit weaker in at upper elevations and those slopes are where we anticipate slides breaking deeply with a big, new load. Many alpine slopes facing north to east in the southern half of the range are a mix bag of wind-scoured to rocks, harbor isolated areas of wind-drifted slabs, or barley enough snow to cover the ground. Where stiff slabs exist, we found the snow stiffer in the upper half of the snowpack and with weaker layers underneath. Our poles easily broke through to the ground.