Northern San Juan
AvalancheBill Nalli · Apr 17, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Storm clearing and light wind below 12K. Started cool and ended warm. Beautiful spring day.
Snowpack
New snow in the Red 1 and Red 2 areas averaged 3 inches with some areas a few inches more. Mostly well bonded to the old surface crust that formed on 4/16. Some areas with wind drifted snow deeper than 6 inches slid naturally during early morning hours with high PI and wind. All were small and did not travel far. One exception was seen in steep continuous terrain on Red 1. Terrain like that was not skied on today's route. Lower angle terrain was stable and smooth. The sun warmed the snow surface on all but upper elevation north-facing terrain. A snow profile on north-facing at 10,300 feet revealed a weak structure that has yet to transition into the spring regime. Weak faceted snow still exists below treeline on shady north slopes. Will be of interest during the next major warm up.
Avalanche
Small dry loose slides were seen on the most exposed northeast througn northwest ridges. D1's stopping at the first major transition.