Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Madison Crowell · Jan 29, 2021 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Nevada Gulch (N) viewed from top of Swamp (E) at 11,900ft. Sky: Broken Air Temp: 24.1F Precip: Nil Wind: Light (5)/SW on top of Swamp, but evidence of moderate winds G(25) on higher ridge tops (above 12k). Moving snow and spindrifts off these higher ridges.

Snowpack

It's been 72 hours since our last snowfall. In the last 48 hours moderate SW winds G(30+) have occupied the alpine ridges in the area. A natural cycle of avalanches seems to have hit all aspects, if the start zones are steep enough <35deg. Most avalanches seem to failing on new/old snow interface. However, the avalanche reported here in Nevada Gulch did seem to run to the ground.

Avalanche

Nevada Gulch (North Aspect at 12,000ft) ran wall to wall sometime after 1:00pm on Jan 28th (another observer did not see this avalanche when up there yesterday). R3 D2.5 - Most likely natural from overnight winds, however two tracks in Kurt Cobain were observed.