Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Bill Nalli Jeff Davis · Jan 26, 2020 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Clear and warm. The sun took one step forward today and moistened south through west aspects. Low elevations got warm on all aspects.

Snowpack

Near and above treeline southeast through northeast to northwest aspects stayed dry at the surface. All other aspects got some sun affect. Small wet loose slides were seen today, mostly D1's but one larger was seen on south facing Greenback Mountain north of Telluride originating at 12,800' that could just barely be called D2. The north side of the compass was mostly stable dry recrystallized powder. I did manage to find one small pocket of unstable snow to trigger an avalanche. Low doesn't mean No. It was below a steep couloir on a northwest aspect at 11,800'. The slab consisted of loose snow that had sluffed down the couloir and settled on top of lower density recrystallized facets below a cliff. It broke right at my skis as I skied into it and travelled about 200 vertical feet. This is not indicative of any widespread problem and is an isolated issue.