Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey Jeff Davis · Jan 18, 2020 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Warm and pleasant day in the mountains with a much welcomed reprieve from the wind!
Snowpack
Southwest and west-facing slopes in the alpine have been throttled by recent winds and are thin. North and northeast-facing slopes continue to be the most bountiful with generally deep snow depths and strongest overall structure. Northwest sits somewhere in-between with lots of spatial variability. Northwest-facing slopes harbor a complex structure with deep and supportable areas directly next to areas that are shallow, weak, and troublesome with a big load. We found up-front evidence of this variability on our tour today the higher we climbed in elevation (more dynamic mixture of scouring and loading). The act of post-holing all the way to the ground where facets and depth hoar flourish was the straw that broke the camels back. Despite the lack of bulls-eye evidence of instability (cracking, collapsing, or natural avalanches), a known weak structure with firm, hard slabs adjacent was enough to call it a day. Slopes lower in elevation and wind-sheltered continue to offer generally safe riding and avalanche conditions.