Southern San Juan
AvalancheKrista Beyer · Mar 23, 2025 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Spring has sprung accompanied by the chorus of Pine Siskin and Golden-crowned Kinglet's. Temperatures climbed above 40 degrees around 11,000 feet, the warmest we've seen since March 10th. Winds were around 10 mph out of the northwest.
Snowpack
I checked out the eastern half of the compass below and near treeline, photos attached, descriptions of findings below: On southeast I found a snowpack that has seen warming from top to bottom. It is generally comprised of moist grains and crust layers. The only places I heard collapsing were on southeast aspects likely due to the failure of an upper pack crust just beneath the new snow. While crusts can promote faceting, the warmup will make quick work of any weakness associated with crusts on this aspect. On east I also found layers of moist grains and crusts. Mid-pack layers displayed many perc columns formed during previous warmups. While basal facets are preserved, these facets have seen previous warmups and generally have more strength than those on aspects with a north component. On northeast I found well formed preserved depth hoar sitting beneath recent snow. As a classic "hard-over-weak" set up, the structure is concerning, however the overlying slab was not particularly strong nor connected. Repeatable moderate failures during compression tests, but no results during Extended Column Tests shows this classic struggle with well-formed persistent layers in shallow snowpacks.
Avalanche
Minor Loose Wet activity was observed, primarily roller balls from heated rocks.