Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Jeff Davis · Feb 9, 2017 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Spring-like day. Warm temperatures, moderate winds, and strong influence from the sun.

Snowpack

Skiing left something to be desired. Hard non-reactive surface slabs are still present near and above treeline on exposed slopes and largest lee to westerly winds. Slopes at lower elevations have a firm crust that was breaking down during the day. On multiple hand pits cold snow still persists below the top 20-30 cms of the snowpack. Percolation columns were observed on South facing slope Below treeline. No significant cracking or collapsing was observed.

Avalanche

Multiple Loose Wet avalanches observed. Most were on S facing slopes and started as Snow fell off rock features.