Northern San Juan
AvalancheMatt Huber · Jan 7, 2022 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Warm and sunny January day. Ridgelines to the west were flagged with blowing snow above treeline but only a gentle southwest breeze below treeline.
Snowpack
Temperatures were warm enoug to moisten surface snow in southerly-facing aspects below treeline. Surface facets and intact surface hoar dominate the cold, shady slopes. The snowpack remains quite thin and weak. The two paths that I visited have cross-loaded terrain features with a reactive slab sitting on basal facets. Whumpfing, shooting cracks and collapsing could be seen anywhere the slab is stiff enough to support propagation. Shooting cracks covered the entire Not Turkey Foot path from a hundred meters away, triggered in adjacent, low-angle terrain. Currently the slabs do not have enough volume to support avalanching. Extended column tests produce propagating results with 2-3 taps from the wrist any where there is a slab. ECTP2-3
Avalanche
Many natural avalanches observed near and above treeline on north through east aspects