Northern San Juan
AvalancheJeff Davis · Dec 2, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Clear skies, winds strong enough to move snow at times, and temperatures in the low teens.
Snowpack
3 inches of light and fluffy snow fell in the Red Mountain Pass area Tuesday. The new snow fell on a variety of surfaces from bare ground to hard slabs to facets. It was nice to see the mountains all dressed in white in the morning, but by the afternoon brown spots were once again peaking out on low elevation and sunny slopes. I skied the north face of Red 3 and the wind has done a number to the snow surface at upper elevations. It was very grabby and slabby but not avalanchy. Dryer snow and easier travel conditions were found on lower angled and lower elevations slopes.
Avalanche
I observed a few small human-triggered avalanches that failed at the new/old snow interface on steeper slopes were the new snow was drifted by the wind. Though these avalanches were relatively harmless, I took note as when we get a bigger load we can expect to see similar avalanche activity.