Northern San Juan
SnowpackJason Konigsberg, Josh Coffin · Jan 26, 2016 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Clear skies with some high cloud to the west in the afternoon. Wind was light out of the north to northeast at ridgetop but calm elsewhere. Temperatures were inverted with ~-17 F in Silverton this morning and temps in the single digits to low teens at elevation.
Snowpack
In the areas we traveled the wind was transporting snow to lee aspects but slab development was limited to near ridgetop. South and west aspects near treeline did not have much wind effect. There was evidence of previous cross-loading in terrain features and southerly aspects likely had some thick wind slabs.--- The snowpack is generally deep with snow depths around 140-160 cms. The general structure on shady aspects is new snow over a, progressively harder with depth, mid-pack slab and then depth hoar at the bottom 20 to 40 cms thick. Clear day and very good vis in the surrounding mountains showed no natural activity except for a few very small Loose Dry avalanches.