Northern San Juan
AvalancheChris Dickson Troy Nordquist · Nov 8, 2024 · Northern San Juan
Weather
It was generally cold and calm on our tour. In the morning, partly cloudy skies allowed the sun to peak through and warm the snow surface. By midday, the clouds began to lower and so did the temperature. Winds remained light throughout the day.
Snowpack
At the valley bottom, new snow sits atop several crusts above faceted snow near the ground. The snowpack here is shallow, only about one to two feet deep. As we ascended, the snowpack grew deeper and more homogenous. Around 11,000', the snowpack grows to more than two feet deep, and on slopes that tilt to the north, the crusts disappear. Near 12,000', the snowpack was about three feet deep and right-side-up with softer layers above harder layers. We dug two snow pits, at 11,000' and 11,600', on northeast and east-facing slopes. We found a snowpack comprised of two major layers, the new storm snow sitting on the old snow from October. Currently, we don't have much cause for concern here as the snowpack lacks a slab over weak snow structure.
Avalanche
We observed numerous small natural avalanches that released on steep westerly slopes above treeline.