Northern San Juan
Avalancheian altman · Feb 17, 2020 · Northern San Juan
Weather
light snow and wind all day; maybe 1" of new snow by day's end
Snowpack
North northeast facing terrain 10,500'-12,500'. Well sintered and solid in the openings and in the deeper forested areas, but it was shallower and less cohesive by rocks. Surface facets seemed to be developing quickly.
Avalanche
While skiing the upper runs off the top of the ridge we inadvertently triggered two small wind slabs from the eastern facing sides of the gully features. These had small crowns and popped out from the steeper sides of the runs at approx. 11,500 feet. They did not travel far (approx. 100 vertical feet), nor did they step down to other layers. They were however big enough to catch or entrap a person but no one was caught do to the adequate ski and ski-cut protocols amongst out group.