Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Josh Hirshberg · Nov 24, 2013 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Low visibility all day. Light and variable wind @ treeline ridgetop. HST 49cm @ 11,800ft

Snowpack

Saw big variation between N and E aspects below treeline. North slopes were well faceted and unsupportive. Stiff slabs do exist from the snow that fell on Nov 16-17th.</br> East aspects had less thorough faceting, stout crusts (buried 10/?, 11/16), and a thick layer of moist grains (buried 11/21). The main interface of concern was a crust/facet combo @ 26cm w/ HS 103cm. Compression Test and Extended Column Test showed propagation likely with a heavy load.</br> Found many interfaces w/in the current storm snow. None of these showed tendancy for propagation in small or large snowpack tests. Ski cuts did produce some minor sluffing of the upper 15cm on steeper slopes. See Attached Profile.