Southern San Juan
AvalancheChris Bilbrey · Dec 1, 2022 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Clear and cold to start with temperatures low-teens in the valley bottom. We only felt a light breeze up to about 11,500 feet, but you could hear the wind blowing above treeline. By around 11 am, high thin clouds started to stream in from the southwest.
Snowpack
We targeted snowpack conditions on northerly slopes near and below treeline in anticipation of tomorrow's storm. Storm snow from November 29th has settled into a soft 4F slab ranging from about 4 inches below treeline up to 6 inches near treeline. The closer we got to the ridgeline, we encountered a thin layer of wind-stiffened snow at the surface. Despite a weak overall snowpack, signs of unstable snow were hard to come by. The snopwack remains supportive to over-the-snow travel, but boot penetration was to the ground on most slopes we traveled on. Wind speeds increased during the morning, but wind-ward fetches had mostly been stripped of recent snowfall limiting snow transport at upper elevations. The snowpack is still shallow below treeline helping keep avalanche size small. However, open hallways in the trees or wide-open areas below cliffs seem like the most likely spot to trigger an avalanche.
Avalanche
None observed