Southern San Juan
SnowpackCasey Bristow · Jan 17, 2012 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Cold and windy. S1 almost all day. Moderate SW winds with strong ridge top gusts.
Snowpack
Up high, 15" of storm snow ( 24"+ where drifted and loaded) is inverted and the denser upper portion also exhibits effects of moderate winds. More soft slab formation that sluff was the trend. Several R2D2 slides on an east aspect near treeline were triggered by intentional cornice drops, and failed on a weak layer within the old snow. Weather conditions prohibited examining this failure. See Mark's entries for specifics.