Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnn Mellick Becs Hodgetts · Jan 11, 2021 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Sunny and cool with no wind even in the alpine. Beautiful San Juan day.
Snowpack
The snowpack remains thin and weak (broken record). Shady slopes near and above treeline continue to be the most tender, but we continue to see cracking and collapsing on most aspects an elevations. Below treeline (btl) in this area HS ranges from 20cm on sunny slopes, to up to 1m in slopes exposed to the wind. As seen in the pit, multiple mfc/facet combos exist on south and southwest slopes, north and shady slopes are almost entirely facetted throughout. As is the case in most areas, as you travel in the upper portion of btl terrain, and into the near treeline (ntl), the snowpack becomes deeper and more supportive. We did not travel north facing ntl slopes, but it was obvious (from the avalanche) that drifted slopes below ridges have stiffer slabs up to three feet thick.
Avalanche
We saw several D2 avalanches that ran naturally in the last cycle (~Dec 29th) in the area. Slides ran on on easterly, westerly and north facing terrain above treeline.