Southern San Juan
AvalancheChris Bilbrey · Apr 14, 2022 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Cool spring day with sunny skies in the morning. By midday, thin clouds moved overhead and kept the warmup at bay. The wind was steady out of the southwest preventing southerlies from softening except below treeline.
Snowpack
Recent storm snow is settling quick, especially at lower elevations. We found 1-2 inches of new snow around 10,000 feet on northerly and easterly slopes while the new snow on southerlies has been cooked down to negligible depths. Above 11,000 feet, the new snow depth averaged 4 to 6 inches with very isolated drifts 8 to 10 inches. The uptick in southwest wind following snowfall Tuesday has done a number to the snow surface creating a variety of surface conditions over short distances. Areas near ridgetops or westerly-facing terrain has been scoured to the old re-frozen/ dusty snow surface. Deepest snow deposition found mid and lower down easterly slopes suggesting the wind was fierce at times. Where the new snow sits on melt-freeze crust, it has bonded well overall. No cracking or sluffing of the new snow above the crust. We encountered localized areas of stiff wind-drifted slabs on northeast, east, and southeast slopes above treeline. These were unreactive to ski cuts, breakable, and 1F hardness with softer snow below. Firm surfaces were adjacent to textured, soft surfaces. We found evidence of shallower slab formation near treeline but only an inch or so thick. While temperatures remained cool overall, spots where recent snowfall saw direct sunshine earlier in the day, it quickly became wet and sticky.
Avalanche
No fresh avalanche activity. Several older Loose Wet avalanches that most likely ran during prior warmups on SE-S aspects above treeline, and ranging from size 1.5-2.