Northern San Juan
AvalancheColin Mitchell · Feb 13, 2023 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Snowing with obscured skies and light winds. Precipitation intensity increased south of Molas Pass, with the heaviest snow focused right on Coal Bank Pass.
Snowpack
The height of snow in West Lime averages 100-120cm. Mitigation earlier this season removed the basal weak layer in all but isolated spots in this path, so I focused on the upper 60 cm. The top 20 cm had 3 different old wind crusts with faceted grains sandwiched in between. Below this I found faceting rounds that increased with depth from 4-finger to 1-finger hardness. The crusts produced lackluster results with tests, failing with moderate taps, but the fractures were rough breaks, without any planar character. At the Engineers, I found a firm temperature/sun crust, supportable to skis, but not boots. Under the crust was a 10cm thick layer of faceting grains, 4f hard, and below that a pencil-hard mid-pack slab. CT and ECT tests results were similar to West Lime.
Avalanche
No new activity observed