Northern San Juan

Snowpack

I dug two snow pits today on northerly aspects to identify distribution of dust and associated dust-facet layer within the upper portion of the snowpack. The first pit was above treeline at 12,200’ on a northwest aspect. Total snow depth was 265 cm. I only dug to 130 cm above the ground, but weak snow was felt with a probe within the bottom meter of snow. Moderate and hard (Q2) compression test fractures occurred above the suspect dust layer at 11cm below the snow surface. The dust-facet layer did fracture with a compression test score of CT-25-Q2 at 30 cm below the snow surface. Below the soft surface layers, the snowpack is 1 finger to pencil hard slab. The second snow pit was just below treeline at 11,175’ on a north aspect. Total snow depth was 218 cm. The dust layer was more pronounced in this location and was also buried 30 cm below the snow surface. Compression tests resulted in a fracture at the dust layer of CT-21-Q2. Other compression tests resulted in fractures lower in the snowpack above the basal facets. Two compression test results were CT-6-Q1 and CT-10-Q2 at 88 cm above the ground. The below treeline snow pit’s mid-pack slab was 1 finger in hardness. Both pits showed moderate stability.