Northern San Juan
AvalancheColin Mitchell · Jan 20, 2018 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Obscured skies, light winds at pass level, and snow flurries.
Snowpack
Coverage is still very thin south of Molas Pass. Northerly aspects are holding 3-12" of mostly unconsolidated mixed forms. As you move around the compass to sunnier aspects, the snowpack gets thinner and discontinuous. Southerly facing slopes are back to bare ground. Concerns on this stretch of road are limited to steep, shady cliffs and road cuts, mostly in the switchbacks between East Lime Creek and Coal Bank. The Champion/Jennie Parker area has coverage and the snow is weak, but still lacks the slab to be a real threat. Small chance this could change if we reach the high end of forecast snowfall. North of Silverton, coverage is good, and all but the sunniest slopes have continuous snow cover above about 10000'. Eagle, Telescope and other large paths south of the pass are still filling in, and slides to the road remain unlikely. The Brooklyns have coverage, and the start zones appear to be holding the same thick layer of faceted snow found on similar aspects and elevations the past couple of days. These paths could come into play if we receive more than a foot of snow with a southerly wind. Coverage in the gorge has increased enough to smooth out terrain irregularities and provide a good bed surface for slides. Mitigation may be needed here by the end of the storm.
Avalanche
No new activity observed