Northern San Juan
AvalancheColin Mitchell · Jan 7, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Clear skies and very light winds. The strong inversion present in the morning gave way to warm temperatures in the afternoon.
Snowpack
Near and below treeline elevations had a highly faceted snowpack with little structure evident. A 1F mid-pack slab about 4" thick was sandwiched between two thick layers of facets and cohesionless mixed forms with rounding facets below that, and an intermittent layer of soft facets at the ground 10-15 cm thick. This structure is consistent with other slopes in the area with a westerly aspect. The snowpack in our profile was unreactive, ECTX, and poses little threat at the moment. The weak structure is unlikely to withstand a significant loading event. Above treeline areas had been hardened by wind and sun. HS varied between 10 and 60 cm and was either P-K hard windboard and sastrugi, or facets. A few areas had hollow-sounding pillows, but they were small and isolated.
Avalanche
No new activity observed