Southern San Juan
AvalancheChris Bilbrey · Nov 10, 2022 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Cool temperatures and sunny skies. Light west wind felt above treeline. The wind damage had been done from several days of stronger winds prior.
Snowpack
Snowfall Wednesday night delivered only a couple of inches to the La Plata Mountains. While traveling in the alpine, it was difficult to tell that it even snowed. Strong pre-frontal wind and continued winds after the onset of precipitation really battered this area stripping what snow fell and blowing it to Kansas. We did encounter isolated shields of 5 cm pencil-hard wind-drifted slabs on the surface. These did not pose much of a hazard today, were mostly isolated and stubborn to ski pressure, and were found tucked on the leeward sides of terrain features. Digging on a northwest aspect around 12,300 feet, we found a uniform 1F slab sitting above 10 to 15 cm of 4F facets. Compression Test produced Q2 shears at the base of the slab and Extended Column Test continue to propagate a failure, albeit with more force than earlier in the week. Directly below wind-stiffened surfaces is a 5 cm layer of near-surface facets that may eventually be our next weak layer to contend with from additional snowfall. No cracking or collapsing observed along our travels.
Avalanche
No new slides observed.