Northern San Juan

Avalanche

Thomas Crumrine · Nov 30, 2019 · Northern San Juan

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Weather

Partly cloudy, with gusting winds out of the west. Elevation of 11,800 ft.

Snowpack

Wind loaded new snow, large wind slab around 3 feet deep on northern aspects

Avalanche

One avalanche on a north facing aspect, 300 feet wide ran for ~300 feet. Visible from highway. Second smaller avalanche released sympathetically. 40 wide ran for ~80 ft. Both crowns appeared to have a slab 3’ deep breaking at the ground. Was told bigger avalanche was triggered by snowshoers who were caught in the slide but stayed on top and were able to self rescue and snowshoe out without injury.