Southern San Juan
AvalancheChris Bilbrey · Dec 23, 2019 · Southern San Juan
Snowpack
Majority of below treeline slopes have gotten worked over by recent warm temperatures and look tired. Slopes facing due north below treeline still hold soft snow. The snow surface near and above treeline has weakened and formed a new layer of small facets. Sunny slopes have multiple melt-freeze crust with weak facets below. Slopes with a newly formed surface crust will most likely not promote good bonding with our next round of snowfall. Both of these scenarios, faceted snow surfaces and faceted crust at the surface will be our next persistent weak layer once buried. Alpine slopes have been battered by recent winds but not as bad as areas further north in the San Juan Mountains. We found and avoided "Drummy" wind slabs in the alpine. Those are sitting above a weak snow structure but inconclusive results in long-column test and lack of natural avalanches point to a stubborn snowpack. A known weak snowpack structure and shallower snow depths in the alpine was enough for us to avoid specific terrain features and larger snowfields.
Avalanche
None observed