Northern San Juan
AvalancheJeff Davis · Jan 19, 2024 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Cloudy in the morning turning to mostly sunny skies.
Snowpack
The snowpack in the Ophir area has almost doubled in the last week. Digging near the crown of the avalanche on a northeast slope around 11,600 feet. The new and decomposing snow sits on a slightly firmer layer mid-pack above well-developed facets and depth hoar from the early season drought. Facets and depth-hoar make up the bottom half of the snowpack above the ground. Digging at the crown, hight of snow was 115 cms. The avalanche broke on buried fist hard facet layer 60-70 cms from the surface. Below that layer the snowpack is very weak and in areas the avalanche took the entire season snowpack with it. Snowpack tests highlight the facet layer, as the layer of concern with propagating sudden planner results in long column tests. ECTP22, ECTP23 Also had a CT21 result.
Avalanche
January 18th, 2024 a skier was caught, carried but not buried in a large avalanche in Swamp Canyon near Ophir. The skier was hit from behind by the avalanche while skiing downhill, stopped on a tree, and the debris passed over. The skier lost some equipment and received minor injuries after rough ride and lengthy self-extraction. This was a soft slab avalanche, medium to path, and large enough to injure or bury a human. The avalanche was around 100 feet wide and debris ran around 600 feet through dense timber. The crown of the avalanche ranged from 1 to 3 feet and was about 150 feet above from where the skier entered the slope. The avalanche occurred below treeline on a northeast facing slope. The slope was 34-37 degrees in steepness.