Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Ann Mellick Jeff Davis · Apr 9, 2022 · Northern San Juan

Weather

Warm and windy. The day began clear but high clouds began to stream in by mid morning.

Snowpack

We traveled on an easterly aspect between ~10,000'-12,000' and found a very spring like isothermal snowpack. A snowpit at 11,000' revealed one meter of snow. The top 60 cms were firm melt/freeze crust, while the lower 40 cm consisted of moist faceted snow. We think this snow will continue to quietly melt without wet slab problems (unless we see a significant precipitation event rain on snow and/or subsequent rapid warm up). The snow below treeline was cold in the morning, but became punchy by noon (knee deep boot penetration). Areas that rolled to the south more showed a generally weaker and shallower snowpack. We exited the field early (around noon) due to deteriorating conditions in the area we planned to exit. Wind was keeping the snow from getting to soft at upper elevations. Great time of year to get out early and end early.