Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Jeff Davis · Jan 13, 2017 · Northern San Juan

Weather

Snowed throughout the morning as winds continued to blow out of the SE. Cooler temps and wind kept things chilly. As I was leaving the area snow stopped and the sun popped out for a brief moment.

Snowpack

Last weeks storm snow continues to settle. The new snow that was falling today seemed to be bonding well to the existing surface. A snowpit on a NW facing slope above treeline showed a great deal of strength in the mid-pack. There was a small layer of .5-1 mm facets that have developed at the ground, but the ~70cms above that facet layer is a large 1-finger/pencil (-) slab. CT's produced moderate and hard failures I was unable to get a long column test to propagate. There is a layer below this weeks snow in the top 50cms of the snowpack that is not an issue now, but something to watch as the snowpack continues to grow. Wind-loaded areas are easy to identify as surface slabs were actively developing. I continued to give cornices a wide birth. No cracking or Collapsing was experienced along the tour. I was able to trigger a sluff avalanche in a steep rocky feature below treeline, but overall skiing was pretty great.