Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Ann Mellick · Dec 10, 2019 · Northern San Juan

Weather

Sunny and cool, with a crisp wind (NW/20)

Snowpack

Northwest winds picked up in the alpine zone today, redistributing ample light snow from our most recent storm. Some banners off the peaks observed, but more snow movement was on the surface, locally drifting lee areas and generally stiffening the upper slab slightly. No monumental change. A snow pit dug on a NE aspect at 12,000' revealed a stout slab sitting on a 15 cm layer of 2mm faceted snow. ECTP21 at this interface, hints at a lower likelihood, high consequence avalanche set-up. The most likely place to trigger these persistent slabs would be from the slab margin, where it is thinner and easier to penetrate a backcountry traveler's weight to weak layers below or at steep loaded convexities.