Southern San Juan
AvalancheGrady James · Jan 26, 2021 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Snowed off and on all day with about 20cm accumulation by the end of day. Traveling between 10,200 and 11,000' on all aspects, obscured skies for most of the day with cold temps. Winds remained calm to light for the first 2/3 of the day and increased to moderate out of the SW by end of day. Tree plop was primary indication of increased wind.
Snowpack
Storm slab continues to lack enough cohesion to effectively transfer energy to lower PWL. Primary layers of concern continue to be late November, mid December interfaces. Multiple instances of cracking on steep cut banks of logging roads but slab didn't move. In Old Growth trees: wood in lower storm snow was still in play underfoot. Between consolidation of storm slab and tree plop this should become less of an issue for obstacles that are completely buried.
Avalanche
NW slope, BTL (10,200'): Ski cuts and hard jumps on steep bank uphill of road did not produce movement. A client took 1 step off cat road on downhill side and saw failure in SH layer buried Nov 23 producing R2 D1.5. Crown height: 1m, Width: 35m, Length: 15m. SS-ASu-R2-D1.5