Northern San Juan
Snowpackmarkus beck · Jan 19, 2013 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Another blue bird day with balmy temperatures approaching oC at mid elevations.
Snowpack
Extensive sfc faceting observed especially below and around treeline, less so in the alpine. Snowpack below treeline is entirely faceted out. Around treeline, areas of mostly soft (some hard) slab rest atop these facets. In the alpine, hard slab is prevalent though on shaded and wind sheltered slopes softer snow exists. Inside the Champion Gulch glades, the snow coverage is generally thin (2-4ft) with lots of deadfall still sticking out. S facing slopes generally are very thin. Melt-freeze crusts are developing on most sun exposed slopes. SNOW TESTS(see pics & video): We dug a series of snow pits at 11,800ft on a shallow gully (30-34dgr NW-W-SW) within 40ft of each other. As expected, spatial variability was evident (shaded vs sun exposed vs wind exposed) though snow test all produced very similar results of CT(VE) Q1-2 and ECTP-(E/M) Q1-2 failing on depth hoar near the ground. Another pit was dug nearby on a NW slope which produced ECTPV Q1 (repeated 2) on depth hoar near the ground and PST100/30end on depth hoar near the ground. Windslab and Persistent Slab remain a concern not to be taken too easily. Despite these concerning results, it feels the spx overall is "loosing tension" and triggering an avalanche is becoming less likely.