Southern San Juan
AvalancheJackson Knoll · Mar 7, 2019 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Elevation was around 11k feet, aspects were on the northern half of the compass. The tour went from Wolf Creek ski area to Treasure pass and out to the highway (north) via the Rusty's zone. Moderate westerly- southwesterly ridgetop winds were transporting the new snow (top 15 cm) . Graupel was observed (good convection) and precip rates in the S1-S2 range before 1:00 pm.
Snowpack
En route to digging a pit on the east shoulder of Rusty's the group observed no collapsing or cracking on test slopes that were ski cut. Upon digging, a persistent weak layer was located around 1 meter deep in 3 snowpits. This layer was a combo of near surface facets and surface hoar. The surface hoar was beginning to thin (penetrating into the layer above). No propagation was observed in 3 extended column tests. The total snowpack was over 3 meters deep. Pit was at 11k feet on a North/ NE aspect.
Avalanche
No avalanches or signs of instability were observed. The group did notice the crown line from the Kathy's slide path that occurred on March 4th.