Northern San Juan
AvalancheAmy Pertuz · Apr 13, 2022 · Northern San Juan
Weather
16+" of storm snow in this zone at 11,000ft. This arrived with very blustery winds out of the west, with winds from the northwest and southwest also observed. The strongest winds from Tuesday eased yesterday, but blowing snow was seen at all elevations and was steady all day, with large plumes seen moving through below tree line areas as well. The extent of blowing snow varied widely from basin to basin. Much less transport was seen in Richmond basin, with more significant transport in Yankee Boy, Governor, Sydney, Silver, and Pearson basins. Temperatures remained cold, and a brisk night Tuesday had faceted surface snow Wednesday morning.
Snowpack
HS on a NE aspect near tree line in this area is 230cm. Drifted areas to 30" were observed on NE slopes at the upper reaches of below tree line and near tree line yesterday. Thickened, drifted snow was found in the trees, but this improved ski coverage more than it created slab hazard where I travelled. Near tree line and in more open areas, stiffer drifts with some cracking were seen, but many drifts were soft. The gusty and variable winds were able to move the ample low density snow easily into less typical places. Bonding was good of storm snow on North and East aspects. Have not seen any activity whatsoever in the Camp Bird zone or Sneffels range on the mid February facets, despite some honest storm loads.
Avalanche
No new slab avalanches seen; Some large dry loose slides were coming off wind loaded slopes on the Hayden massif yesterday in the vicinity of the Ribbon ice climb