Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnonymous · Mar 10, 2022 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Overcast, light snow, windy on ridgeline.
Snowpack
Over a foot of fresh snow has falling in the Cement Creek area in the past 2 days. The new snow fell on a crust at lower elevations that developed during the warming period earlier in the week. Deeper in the snowpack the drought facet layer lurks under the 1 finger February slab but still in the top meter of the snowpack.
Avalanche
A group of 3 skiers were skiing up CR 110 in the Prospect area across from Silverton Mountain. They were skiing in an area locally called "Cocaine Chutes" and accessed the slope from the ridge. On the decent one of the skiers was caught, carried, and fully buried. The avalanche broke above one of the skiers carrying them down to the flat slope below and was buried over a meter deep. Other members of the party quickly pinpointed the victim with a transceiver and the buried individual was only estimated to be under the snow for 5 min. The skier left the backcountry under their own power with minor injuries but lost equipment in the slide. The avalanche was a hard slab avalanche and likely broke on a crust that developed during the warm period earlier in the week. The avalanche occurred on a east facing steep slope in an open area in the trees just above the gully. The crown of the avalanche ranged from 12 inches to 3 feet deep. Debris piled into the gully with piles estimated to be over 6 feet deep. The avalanche occurred just below 11,000 feet and ran an estimated 400 feet. The avalanche was about 50 feet wide.