Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Chris Dickson · Mar 19, 2025 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Swirling clouds and light orographic snowfall gave way to partly sunny skies. Temperatures remained cold throughout the day. Winds were light to moderate with little wind-transported snow observed.

Snowpack

I dug on an east-facing slope (leeward) below treeline and found 45cm (~18") of new snow well-bonded to an old melt-freeze crust. The new snow was right-side-up and showed no slab character in sheltered trees. Below the new snow was a series of old melt-freeze crusts sandwiches faceted grain. In another pit dug near treeline on a west-facing slope (windward), I found 36cm (~14") of new snow sitting over a thin melt-freeze crust over one-finger-hard wind-packed layers in the middle of the snowpack. Instability tests yielded no interesting results at the new/old interface and stubborn results on deeper crust/facet layers.

Avalanche

I spotted a few avalanches on the drive home. No natural slab avalanches observed, but impressive propagation demonstrated by a helicopter-bombed avalanche.