Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey · Dec 10, 2019 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Blue-bird day with generally light winds along ridges and periods of moderate gusts. Temperatures remained cool above 10,000 feet.
Snowpack
The lack of old, October snow and continuous snowfall for the past three weeks is potentially setting the stage for a strong snowpack in this portion of the South San Juan zone. After an uptick in natural avalanche activity at the end of November (first loading event), avalanche activity recently has been limited - most slides confined to storm snow and only running half way down the track. Snow depths range from three to four feet on northerly and east-facing slopes while southerly-facing terrain is around two feet deep. Signs of unstable snow were lacking in the terrain we traveled today and wind-drifted areas along ridges were soft and not slabby. Long-column test produce non-propagating results in recent storm snow. Old, facets at the ground showed signs of rounding and were non-reactive in our snowpits below treeline. Northwest winds contributed to snow plumes and light wind-loading in the alpine.