Northern San Juan
AvalancheBill Nalli · Feb 4, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
BRK sky with intermittent light snow showers that did not accumulate. Cold and crisp with light NW wind.
Snowpack
Surface snow was dense but no slab seen below treeline. As you move up in elevation the surface gets more dense but slab was not sensitive in the areas I travelled. I jumped on a small hard slab on a test slope below the ridge at 11,500' with no results. Most significant issue I saw was a fragile melt freeze crust on NE through SE that formed during the very warm days before the last storm. It is now buried under 2 to 4 inches of new snow. This layer is concerning as we look ahead to the next active storm cycle. It failed upon isolation during CT and ECT's. The upper portion of the below treeline zone has an average HS of 150-175cm. This pack is strong. The lower you travel the lower the HS and the weaker the snowpack. A pit dug at 10,700' on a due east aspect revealed full depth facets with a couple fragile melt-freeze crusts near the surface. The lower half of below treeline will not hold much new load before we see widespread avalanches.
Avalanche
No signs of recent avalanches.