Northern San Juan
SnowpackKrista Beyer · Jan 4, 2025 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Moderate to high southwest gusts early in the day signaled another incoming precipitation event. By 3pm bands of heavy precipitation arrived in the vicinity of Red Mountain Pass. about 1.5 inches of new snow fell in the last hour of the tour.
Snowpack
Thick drifted slabs of snow rest on weak old facets on northeast and east slopes. The surfaces of these slopes remained soft prior to new precipitation, but southeast developed a crust in the past 24 hours. New snow combined with a midstorm wind shift will drift small slabs onto southeast slopes in the alpine. Beneath the thick wind-drifted slabs of snow I noticed the top layer of weak faceted old snow starting to strengthen and bond to the December 25th snowfall (bottom of recent snow slab). Unfortunately, we're not out of the mud yet. While pit results have reduced in sensitivity (including non-propagating results on multiple aspects), what results we are seeing are breaking deeper in the old snow. In addition, our old faceted snow is weakening in some areas with more regular sightings of 2-3 mm cupped depth hoar. While snowpack trends are pointing towards less sensitivity, the confidence in snowpack structure remains low.