Southern San Juan
AvalancheAnonymous · Feb 21, 2020 · Southern San Juan
Weather
8,000ft-12,500ft, SE-S-SW Temps in mid 30’s, winds were generally light and SW, lots of sun!
Snowpack
8,000ft-12,500ft, SE-S-SW Firm surface crust in early a.m., softening to corn through mid-morning and afternoon. Hollow and punchy near rock outcropping me and couloir edges, otherwise generally deep and fairly consistent.
Avalanche
8,000ft-12,500ft, SE-S-SW Observed multiple point-release, wet loose avalanches in the Babcock/Spiller basin. 2 of the avalanches were on the ESE face of spiller; one ran naturally either yesterday afternoon or earlier this morning before we got a view of it, the second was triggered in mid-late afternoon by another party descending from spiller peak. The debris of the skier triggered avalanche barely crossed the debris of the previous slide before it stopped (the other skiers were not caught or injured in the slide). Another avalanche on the south face of Babcock looked to have ran naturally yesterday afternoon or perhaps earlier this morning by the other party somewhere along their ascent route, which traveled above where the slide released. We observed a fourth avalanche from the trailhead that ran on a SSW aspect of Babcock peak that crossed our tracks where they exited the upper basin, after we had descended.