Northern San Juan

Avalanche

M Ackerman · Dec 2, 2020 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Clear and very cold- -20c in town/ -15 c on the hill. Light winds in the alpine <5mph @0700

Snowpack

A spatially variable cornucopia of cold smoke, welded mank and facet farms. dug at the NTL/ATL interface, in the gut of the run, 80>100cms with. isolated drifts to 250 cm+ on the southern edges/sides of the path. HS- 92cm 93-90 wind skiff/crust that developed beautiful SH feathers overnight F 90-75 fresh, unconsolidated. F 75-69 DFs F 69-65 MF crust 4F 65-50 DFs 4F 50-32 DFs 4F 32-10 DF s 1F 10-0. F. rotten mank standardized- ECTX -stylistic- shears easily remove wind skiff and unconsolidated fresh in the upper pack/ -shovel shear/pull test easily dislodges an increasingly stiffing, mid to the ground, 4f/1F slab atop the normal san juan bs on the ground (basals). Things are locked up- no signs of instability but the mid-to lower pack slab will be the stuff of Xmas nightmares if we continue cold and clear and then santa decides to load er up.

Avalanche

Small cornice fall touching of a small D1+ wind slab (can be seen above pit in photo)