Northern San Juan
SnowpackJosh Vincent · Dec 7, 2021 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Broken skies, with very light snow. The afternoon sun did shine on many S and W slopes. It is hard to say if it came out long enough to warm the surface.
Snowpack
Approximately 10cm at the top of the pass and up to 20cm above treeline on W facing slopes. A truck with chains was able to drive up CR 14 so the snow is still thin. The storm snow was just enough to get up and down the road without hitting rocks. I would suspect this will change if the sun comes out before the next storm. At the split of CR 14 the west facing (292*) slopes were around 100cm. This depth quickly decreases as the road turns to the SW. This area mostly consists of large grain facets, thin crusts and new snow (15cm). No signs of instability along tour. There was a very small slab on the east side of 550 on the way back to Ouray.