Northern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey · Feb 6, 2019 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Snowing and blowing all day with brief periods of sun poking through clouds.
Snowpack
Lots of new storm snow ranging from 20 to 30 inches in wind-sheltered areas and upwards of four feet in wind-drifted areas. Lots of new cornice growth below treeline and alpine terrain that we could see had significant wind-scouring and drifting. In below treeline terrain where we traveled, new snow appeared to be "glued" in and we didn't observe any surface cracking while jumping on small test slopes or skiing. Got one isolated collapse along a wind-drifted ridgeline. Small loose dry sluffing noticed from steeper, rocky terrain, confined to the top few inches of new snow, and none of the sluffs that we could see triggered larger slab avalanches. New snow felt right-side-up with a dense, creamy texture in open slopes.