Southern San Juan
SnowpackChris Bilbrey · Dec 20, 2022 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Chilly start to the day under clear skies. High, grey clouds moved overhead around midday along with temperatures warming into the low 20s.
Snowpack
The overall integrity of the early-December slab above drought facets appears to be a product of slab depth. We found a stiffening slab over faceted grains in places where the slab is around 2 feet deep. We found the beginnings of a weakening slab where the slab was closer to about 1 foot thick. This disparity lies as a double-edged sword in that areas with thicker, stiffer slabs are more likely to behave stubbornly, and areas with a softer, shallower slab are where a rider could impact weaker snow buried below. Digging on a northeast-facing slope at treeline, the Extended Column and Compression test still point to a problematic stiff-over-soft combination. We observed propagating failures with 16 taps and sudden planar failures with 14 taps where the block "cash drawered" into the snowpit - meaning slid off with excitement. Cracking and collapsing are still observed in wind-drifted areas where slope angles are steeper than about 32 degrees. Shooting cracks are not traveling as far across slopes as a week ago, but the lingering presence of cracking and collapsing points to a slab, weak layer combination that's struggling to find equilibrium. Traveling across a flat area of a west-facing slope, we triggered a slide that broke in a steep, rocky area and failed at depth hoar grains at the ground. Having good situational awareness of steeper terrain overhead and traveling with a conservative mindset is important when triggering a slide has become a little more difficult, but the end result and size of the slide remain the same. Southerly-facing terrain offers safer riding options and has a less complicated overall snowpack.