Southern San Juan

Avalanche

Kit Barton ยท Jan 27, 2021

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Weather

Cold inversion in the am. -10F in La Plata Canyon at 7 am. Quickly warmed climbing in elevation. Upper teens by 10 am. Light ridgetop winds out of s sw.

Snowpack

3 ft new snow in the la platas. At the lowest elevations e thru s facing the snowpack felt consolidated. Probing with ski poles only felt like punching thru the new snow into depth hoar in areas around bushes and rocks. Minimal collapsing, but our route is popular tour and could have been compacted already by previous riders. No hard windslabs encountered on se to se facing ridgetop. Excellent riding conditions. Large soft drifts around trees. Lots of rime on windward trees.

Avalanche

None observed. Expected to see activity on windloaded n thru e slopes. Did not see any natural slides.