Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Chris Bilbrey · Mar 31, 2019 · Northern San Juan

Weather

Cold, cloudy, and light snow with overall light southwest winds. Snowfall intensity picked up around 1330 and found 4 to 8 inches of new snow with drifts around 12 inches thick.

Snowpack

New snow bonding well to the old snow surface. No sluffing from ski cuts on steeper test slopes - even where a firm crust sits below storm snow. Winds remained light near treeline with light drifting along ridge tops. No evidence of slab formation on northeast, east, and southeast-facing slopes up to 12,000 feet. With warmer temperatures and sunny skies in the forecast tomorrow, will need to be mindful of loose dry sluffing from steep, rocky terrain. These sluffs could move fast and far where new snow sits above a firm crust.

Avalanche

Found yet another very large avalanche that ran during the March avalanche cycle. The avalanche slid wall to wall and to the ground with some portions of the crown over 15 feet deep. This avalanche hit the creek bottom with a lot of force and re-defined the trim line of the lower track and runout area.