Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Jeremy Yanko · Feb 1, 2023 · Northern San Juan

Weather

Quite calm and comfortable. Northerly breeze helped to keep it cool ATL

Snowpack

Traveled on predominantly east-facing aspects from 9600ft to 12,000ft at the mouth of the Uncompahgre Gorge. Coverage is relatively generous through this willow and aspen choked zone boasting anywhere from 80-160cm based on elevation band. Surface conditions lent a mostly continuous 4-5" of unconsolidated snow that accumulated over the previous four days. At the lower elevations on E/SE aspects, the old snow surface held a breakable crust with cold snow preserved below. Travel on the new/old interface became more supportable around 11k or so where previous wind damage left 4-6" wind slabs that were variable in strength. I did not encounter any new or old slab reactivity to skier pressure near or above treeline. I dug a hole at ~12k (lower side of ATL) terrain on an E/SE aspect. with HS of 125cm. I found no discernable facet-crust combos in the upper 1/3 of the pack and hard snowpack test results (ECTX, CT 25/29 SC failing near ground). Overall, just a real nice body to the snowpack, dense and nearly right side-up compared to our typical snow climate setups.