Northern San Juan
AvalancheColin Mitchell · Jan 12, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Brisk winds and cool temperatures. Clouds moved in by mid-morning and were obscuring visibility of the surrounding peaks by midday. Snow showers began at 1:00 pm.
Snowpack
We found a heavily faceted snowpack on the north and east-facing terrain we traveled. Some areas below treeline skis penetrated to the ground in 60 cm of snow. The new snow had not had time to slab up, and it was easy to get loose snow moving below treeline. Without a well-defined bed surface, slides were gouging down and arresting after 15 or 20 feet. Near and above treeline winds were easily transporting the low density new snow onto north and east aspects. The snow was more supportable here, with a variety of old wind-hardened layers under the new snow and near-surface facets that formed the upper layers.
Avalanche
No new activity observed