Northern San Juan
AvalancheSilverton Avalanche School Staff · Jan 1, 2023 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Increasing snow to S4, temps were near to below freezing, winds strong to moderate and gusty
Snowpack
On the West face of Carbon in the start zone, a new and rapidly increasing load in the uppermost snowpack, sits atop Fri/Saturday's recent spongecake which lies upon a weak late November basement. HS in the start zone averaged 100 to 130 cms with minimal wind impact observed. There was much cracking and collapsing observed while traveling to the start zone in the surrounding terrain. Overall, the snowpack is very reactive and slopes around 32 degrees are where snow started moving after collapses.
Avalanche
Substantial R3 D2 cleaned out most of the southern edge of the office with a crown running south to southwest for a long distance looker's right. The crown avg. 60 to 110 cms at the upper reaches of the slide (11,390ft.) and failed on well developed depth hoar above a geologic bed surface- Avg slope angle 32-34 degrees in the start zone. We were impressed by the slide's release, connecting the dots from tree island to tree island. Slab was 4F to F and CT tests yielded easy results (SC) at the 11/29 interface.