Southern San Juan
AvalancheChris Bilbrey · Feb 9, 2020 · Southern San Juan
Weather
A mix of clouds and sunshine to start the day. By Noon, cloud deck lowered and peaks became obscured. Light snow showers during the early afternoon did not amount to measurable accumulations. Winds were moderate out of the southwest with occasional stronger gusts, but nothing like we've experienced recently.
Snowpack
The La Plata Mountains are not on good terms with the snow God Ular at present time. Last weeks storm only delivered about 4 to 6 inches of snow in the La Plata Mountains favoring the northern half of the range. The last significant snowfall in this part of the South San Juan zone came back in late December. Facet/ crust combos on east and southeast-facing slopes is still the biggest snowpack concern and those weak layers continue to produce propagating results in Extended Column Test - mostly near and above treeline. The lack of a big load is most likely the reason for the quiet avalanche activity here. Many west through north-facing slopes in the alpine have been scoured, stripped and snow cover there is thin and variable. This will be a problem once a slab forms above. Thin wind-slabs formed at higher elevations on northeast through southeast aspects. They were stubborn to ski pressure but did produce lots of surface cracks in thicker drifts below ridge tops - no propagating results in ECTs in our snowpit.
Avalanche
None observed today. Did see some older debris on a southeast aspect of Diorite Peak that most likely ran sometime in January. Not enough evidence to provide information in avalanche observation.