Northern San Juan
AvalancheKrista Beyer · Apr 1, 2024 · Northern San Juan
Weather
About .6 SWE was reported at Red Mountain Pass and 2-5" at pass level. Winds throughout March 31st were out of the southwest and in the 40 mph range from the early hours until mid afternoon when they began to drop. Winds on the 1st remained light but switched to the northeast. The majority of snow fell during the high winds.
Snowpack
On open slopes near treeline, new snow ranged from 4-6 inches on north -facing slopes to 1cm-1in on south and west slopes. Drifted areas carried 12-18 in of new snow. Above treeline totals increased slightely with north slopes carrying 8-10 in of new snow. We dug on a north-facing cross-loaded wind feature near treeline and a sheltered northeast feature near treeline. Both areas contained right-side-up recent snow, with new snow bonding well to old surfaces. Any failures in the new snow during progression tests were broken. On the wind-drifted pit, a weak facet layer had developed below a Knife-hard crust layer. No test results were found in this layer. In the northeast pit, a buried layer of near surface facets provided a resistant planar failure (CT17,23 (RP) @150cm), but there was no propagation (ECTX @150cm) during tests.
Avalanche
A few naturals isolated to new snow spotted across 550. Appeared to be triggered at ridges on steep slopes and one pulled out a slab below some exposed rocks.