Northern San Juan
AvalancheKrista Beyer · Jan 28, 2025 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Moderate winds, clear going overcast throughout the day, and generally mild temperatures.
Snowpack
The Animas Forks area has picked up less snow than Red Mountain Pass and maintains a shallower, but comparable snowpack. Below treeline has lost cohesion. The shallowest areas are a crumbly mess, ripe for Dry Loose avalanches on any steep slope that gets some human traffic. The deeper areas feel trap door. Near treeline has also lost structure in the overlying slab even in wind-impacted areas. Finding an intact slab is trending more and more towards isolated areas. Above treeline continues on the train of wind-affected hard slabs and orange peel. Shifting wind directions seem to be redistributing faceted snow back and forth or faceting snow on the surface is providing transportable snow in fetches. Regardless winds are still able to move snow in the alpine 10 days after the most recent snowfall, and with each wind direction shift expect heightened reactivity in isolated/extreme terrain.
Avalanche
The whole gauntlet inbetween Niagra and Eureka Mountain has slid (likely multiple times) this season. These avalanches will be recorded in a separate observation. On shallow slopes, Dry Loose avanches were easy to trigger, but small and slow moving.