Southern San Juan

Avalanche

Jim Philpott · Jan 7, 2022 · Southern San Juan

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Weather

Clear skies Gusting wind 5-10mph Northern aspect 11,600ft Isolated wind loaded zones around rocks and trees

Snowpack

Clear skies and warming temps made for an easy day of travel in the Southern San Juans. No signs of recent avalanche activity, cracking or settling. Rollerballs and melting snow on the Southern aspects confirm the warm past couple of days. We dug a pit at just under 11,600ft on a northern aspect in some thin old-grown trees. The 155cm pit produced results that back up the stabilizing trend in the snowpack. The depth hoar layer leftover from early storms is about 20cm of 2-3mm facets and was basically non-reactive where our pit was but could definitely be around shallower surfaces.

Avalanche

No sign of natural avalanches