Southern San Juan
AvalancheMatt Entz · Dec 29, 2014 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Sky was clear, temperature was around 8 degrees f when we unloaded about 45 minutes prior. East northeast facing slope. Elevation around 10,000 ft.
Snowpack
Mixture of multiple layers. Thin crust on ground surface covered with 10 inches or so of faceted snow. 18 or so inches of recent storm snow above that.
Avalanche
I used this roadside slope as a test slope to check stability/reaction to my snowmobile. It's an open hill with a mixture of trees and small open pockets above. I veered 10-15 feet off of the road at a fair rate of speed(20-25mph). As I crossed a small section of the bottom of the slope, it fractured and slid across a short open spot. There was one definitive fracture and many other cracks all over the slope. The slide was not large enough to get to or cover the road. Slope angle at the starting point where the hill slid was 42 degrees. We also observed a couple of small slides that went during the storm cycle as well as a couple of fresh that were remotely triggered today from what looked like 50-150 feet, all off of the side of the roads in the area facing north through east and estimated elevations between 10,000-10,800 feet. Also noticed numerous crack on some open faces on side of road. Multiple cracks throughout the same slope in a small area.