Northern San Juan
AvalancheJeff Davis · Dec 28, 2024 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Sunshine to start the day, light snow to finish it out. Winds were light below treeline but stronger in the alpine and on exposed ridgelines.
Snowpack
Digging a pit on an east aspect below treeline, near where I remotely triggered an avalanche, the snowpack was 110 cm, and all fell in the realm of fist hardness. Even with everything being similar in hardness, you could easily pick out the weak snow, which would fall out of the pit wall while digging. An extended column failed at 13 taps, so the third tap was from the elbow. It appeared that all the new snow needed to do to fail was build a bit of a slab.
Avalanche
Remotely triggered an avalanche while putting in the skin track. Avalanche failed around 50 yard from me. Lots of cracking on the slope.