Southern San Juan
AvalancheSilverton Level 2 Snowmobile Class · Jan 17, 2015 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Bluebird skies (clear), calm winds and mild. High temps at pass level near freezing.
Snowpack
Minimal signs of instability - no cracking or collapsing. Northerly aspects were unsupportable with full depth boot pen on cold aspects near treeline. Southerly aspects had a 1-2 cm surface melt-freeze crust with moist snow underneath. Pit results from a variety of aspects showed basal layer depth hoar varying in depth from around 10 to 40 cm with the greater depths on colder aspects. Mid-pack hardness was generally 1F to 4F with a softer near sfc layer of snow from the most recent storm. A pit on a NW aspect showed a buried sfc hoar layer under the recent snow layer, which was quite reactive to stability tests. Other tests in all pits showed hard results but Q1/Q2 shears failing at the depth hoar-mid-pack interface.
Avalanche
Observed one natural slab avalanche on above treeline south aspect on the west side of Molas Pass.