Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey · Mar 24, 2022 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Warm and sunny. Light but steady north wind kept the snow surface from getting wet and gloppy.
Snowpack
We traveled on east to south through southwest-facing slopes at all elevations to monitor today's warm-up. By midday, the top 4 to 8 inches of snow got moist and soft on east and southerly-facing slopes below treeline, and up to about 11,500 feet. Below the moist surface snow was either a supportive 1 to 2 inch crust or a thick layer of re-frozen poly grains. The closer we climbed to treeline, surface wetting was confined to the top 10 cm's of snow. A snowpit on an east-facing slope at 11,800 feet yielded a 4F layer of dry snow below the softening surface crust. There were two stout (Knife hard) crust around 32 and 55 cm's from the surface with dry snow nestled between the crust. Digging deeper, we found two rounding facet layers underneath the lower crust that ranged from 1F- to 4F (the deeper layer the softer). These faceted snow layers could be a layer of concern if wetted. East to south through southwest-facing slopes above treeline softened up to around 12,500 feet with boot penetration ranging from 3 to 6 inches. Slopes recently protected by strong winds and areas of slopes near rocky outcrops or cliff walls got softer than open areas with a prior wind-stiffened surface. Only the top inch of snow softened on southerly-facing slopes above 12,500 feet, and northwest to north through east-facing slopes remained cold and dry. By late-afternoon, we were able to sheet the top couple inches of wet snow from steeper near treeline slopes with ski pressure, but none entrained enough snow to be a hazard. Trap door conditions developed on below treeline slopes with the top 10 to 12 inches of snow wet and rotten, but supportive to skis.