Southern San Juan

Avalanche

Becs Hodgetts · Jan 27, 2021 · Southern San Juan

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Weather

Beautiful clear day with cloud cover slowly increasing. Winds at pass level were calm, but could see plumes off high peaks.

Snowpack

Dug on north slopes at ~10 600 feet. Hs 205. Latest round of storm snow has settled to ~60cm. Some localized surface cracking within the new snow, otherwise no other signs of instability observed. Three distinct persistent grain(facet and surface hoar) weak layers were identified in the upper 1.1m of the snowpack, ECTN2 in the upper 10cm below the surface, and ECTN10 290cm below the surface. Both layers did not propagate past the shovel dimensions. This area had not been exposed to the wind, and would expect thicker and more reactive slabs in those areas. Relatively large cornices were observed in Albertas Cousin and other wind-exposed near and below treeline areas.

Avalanche

There was some evidence of smaller Storm Slab Avalanches releasing on north and northeast near treeline slopes, with small debris piles noted, however crowns had blown back in.