Northern San Juan
SnowpackKrista Beyer · Dec 24, 2024 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Calm winds and mostly clear skies apart from some developing cirrus clouds. Snowfall looks to begin early Wednesday morning with models showing a possible 5 inches of low-density snow with moderate winds by the end of the day. A trace of new snow was found on surfaces in this area.
Snowpack
A patchwork of wind-effected snow caps a weak fully faceted snowpack in much of the alpine. Buried facets have grown in size and average around 2mm. The wind-affected surface snow varies greatly in thickness and strength from 1cm to 5cm in the areas I traveled. While travelling I moved quickly from firm supportable snow to trapdoor conditions. The thinner margins of slabs are unpredictable. On sheltered near treeline slopes the snowpack is 1m deep and faceted from top to bottom. I did not observe any loose activity on the slopes I traveled.