Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnonymous · Dec 11, 2016 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Mild temps with moderate winds gusting 40's. Moderate to intense snow transport near and above TL.
Snowpack
Very weak snowpack throughout with slab from recent snow and wind transport observed near and above treeline. Several collapses with shooting cracks observed on the uptrack. Although instability largely still exists in pockets, the snowpack is becoming more connected now that some slab exists above well distributed weak layers. This past storm had just enough new snow and wind to make avalanches easy to trigger on lee slopes with weak old snow beneath, but not enough to push into a widespread natural cycle.
Avalanche
Intentionally triggered one slab avalanche (R3D1.5 1'x80x100) on a steep east facing slope, below a road cut, below treeline. Above treeline we remotely triggered an avalanche from over 100' away while skinning up low-angle terrain. (R1D2 est. 2-3'x100'x400'+) This slide spilled over into extreme terrain and ran a long way despite the low volume.