Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnonymous · Nov 24, 2014 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Snowing hard all day- 5-8 inches by days end. Cold (12 degrees F) and windy- gusting 20-40 mph. Winds were out of the north/northwest.
Snowpack
2-3 feet in the trees near the bottom with only November snow layers. Above 11,000 feet we saw older October layers with poor bonding and sub surface facets beneath new snow. The conditions changed rapidly throughout the day with increasing load with shooting cracks and whoomfing on ridge tops
Avalanche
Group of four triggered a relatively small but considerably destructive slide in a northeast facing opening in the trees as the group attempted to ascend back to the ridge line and ascent track. AS-u, SS, R-1, D-2-. The slide ran to near the ground on October ice layers. Crown was 2.5 feet high and cracked above first skier by 80 feet or so. We did not conclude how far it ran.The first skier crossing was caught and dragged 20-30' before being held up by trees with minor injuries.