Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey · Mar 6, 2019 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Skies started out as overcast and trended to obscured by 1100. Shraining (looks like snow, sounds like rain) below 9,500 feet with all snow above. Graupel observed at the start of precipitation with snowfall intensity varying between S1 and S2. Approx. 1" of new snow below 10,000 feet with up to 4" of new snow at 11,000 feet.
Snowpack
Snowpack is consistently around 2.5 meters above 10,000 feet with some locations on the lee side of ridges near 3 meters deep. Snowfall from February has settled into a stout, 1F slab. Lots of evidence of roller balls and pinwheels from yesterday's warm temperatures. Very large debris pile (approx. 30 feet deep) at the confluence of Boren and Shaw creeks that we guess started out as a loose wet, then turned into a wet or persistent slab avalanche - estimated to run 3/5/19. We traveled on NE-E-SE-S-SW aspects up to 11,100 feet and no cracking or collapsing observed on any aspects. Prominent crust/ rounding facet combo down 60 cm and non-reactive in long column test. A layer of graupel at the start of our last storm (3/2-4) was also non-reactive in test. New snowfall from today sitting on a surface crust that most likely formed during Tuesday's warm, sunny weather on easterly and southerly-facing slopes and another layer of graupel found right above the crust. Will need to keep an eye on this next crust layer to see how much of a load it can support with more precipitation in the forecast. Northerly-facing slopes still holding soft snow making for excellent riding conditions.