Southern San Juan
AvalancheChris Bilbrey · Mar 2, 2021 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Warm and sunny. Light south wind in alpine and along ridge tops.
Snowpack
Above freezing temperatures and a strong sun allowed snow surfaces to soften and moisten on east to south aspects below treeline. Despite moist grains on the surface, the snow deeper remains dry with little evidence of water percolating into deeper weak layers. On those same aspects, snow surfaces softened up to about 11,500 feet. In the alpine, open areas got soft enough to dig in a ski edge but not enough to sluff with ski pressure. On the other side of the compass, the snow surface is faceting and becoming unconsolidated. We triggered small sluffs in steeper below treeline terrain but those remained harmless and didn't travel far. The weakening snow surface may struggle to support a new load. Northerly-facing slopes near and above treeline are a mixture of scoured areas next to areas harboring a shallow, weak snowpack and next to areas with hard slabs over weaker snow. A thin, newly formed wind-skin with near-surface facets below is found on exposed near treeline slopes and in the alpine. Places where this exist on the surface are likely to become reactive once we build a thick slab above.
Avalanche
Observed numerous older loose wet slides on multiple aspects and elevation bands that ran during last week's warmup. Today, only 2 fresh slides observed from our vantage point.