Southern San Juan
AvalancheMichael Altherr · Jan 24, 2021 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Overcast and snowing about 1 inch per hour. Although the pit site was protected the wind was transporting a modest amount of snow from the West. The wind at the pit side was light. In some open unprotected areas the winds were gusting in the moderate range. The air temperature was -6 deg. C. at the pit site.
Snowpack
After the late December storm, scants amount of snow fell until early last week. During the interim winds and widely variant temperatures did their job at transforming the snowpack. The storm that terminated on 20th dropped about 12" at the Cumbres Trestle SnoTel site. The current storm cycle started on the 21st. The most recent SnoTel data indicated that an additional 16" has fallen since Friday. The snow was extremely soft, making turns on the slopes I felt comfortable riding nearly unnecessary. Probe poles easily detected at least 3 distinct slabs. Boot penetration was at least 105 cm, and resulted in considerable wallowing to get back on my skis. Once I left the primary trail audible collapses were frequent. An extended column test resulted in an easy propagation (ECTP 7) at 30 cm below the surface on small (0,5 cm) faceted crystals.
Avalanche
None observed