Northern San Juan
AvalancheJeff Davis · Nov 23, 2016 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Cool and Crisp to start to the day, but things warmed up as the afternoon progressed. Winds were moderate with strong gusts out of the S and SW. Winds were strongest above 11,000 ft. Sky remained clear throughout our tour.
Snowpack
The depth of the snowpack ranged from bare-ground to drifted piles up to 3 feet deep. Monday and Tuesdays storm came in "Right-side up" meaning denser snow exists at the bottom of the new snow, but becomes less cohesive and dryer as you get closer to the surface. Though the new snow fell on mostly bare-ground, facets still exist on northerly slopes that were able to hold early season snowfall. Today's moderate southerly winds loaded northerly slopes creating a 2-4 inch surface slab on slope's above 11,000 feet. At lower elevations the snow remains very thin and unsupportable.
Avalanche
I was able to trigger a small Storm-Slab avalanche in an east facing gully feature approximately 11,500ft.