Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Anonymous · Apr 24, 2023 · Northern San Juan

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Observation photo 1

Weather

Ping pong ball visibility on the way up okay on way down. Wind was out of the south south west and was loading leeward slopes.

Snowpack

Crust with new snow on it. On south facing slopes no signs of instability until dropping in and then saw some light cracking traveling about a a foot so decided to cut the slope. Slide was triggered on a 35 degree slope on a north west aspect.

Avalanche

Triggered at 12,918 when cutting the top of the shot between rocks about 15 feet across and snow stared sliding at the cut beneath me. The crown was about 1 foot to 1.5 feet and sympathetically triggered the rest of the slope and some connecting terrain. It was about 20 feet down from from the CAIC weather station. From there the slide ran all the way to 11,480 so 1,500 feet. Half way down it actually broke through the crust layer and gouged down another 2 feet.