Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnn Mellick Jeff Davis · Jan 11, 2022 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Sunny with seasonable temperatures and calm winds, even in the alpine.
Snowpack
As noted, the snowpack has settled and become much less reactive with time. It has been over a week since the last major snowfall. Stout slabs perch above early season facets on shady slopes and a wind battered surface was observed on open slopes. We found hard results in long column tests on an easterly aspect at 12'k with two weak layers. One roughly one foot below the surface and another near the ground. This means slides that initiate in the upper snowpack could step down and be an issue with the next load. While slabs may continue to become more stubborn to trigger, the size of the avalanche would be large in size. No cracking of collapsing.
Avalanche
We saw evidence of a fairly widespread avalanche cycle above treeline in the Ophir area. Lots of slides in the alpine on west, north and southwesterly terrain. Most of the upper waterfall couloirs and aprons had crowns visible. Some had been previously reported. Other slides noted in the table had not.