Northern San Juan

Snowpack

Mark Gober · Apr 4, 2014 · Northern San Juan

Weather

the day started out bluebird but clouds are moving in currently. Cool above TL and mild in valley bottom.

Snowpack

The new snow varied in depth but was only 6-8" in most places. This snow sat on top of the most recent wind slab/dust layer laid down at the beginning of the week. We found little concern within the new snow. It was not slabby despite the winds that the snow arrived with. Our concern became more centered around the deeper dust/slab interfaces. Depending on aspect the dust layers were separated by white snow or they had merged into one layer on the sunny aspects. The thickness of these dusty slabs was also widely variable. Places the dust was very diffuse throughout the thickness of the layer- up to 18"-20" thick. Mostly the dust was in a defined layer and the accompanying slab would vary in thickness. We chose not to ski one line as the slabs were layered and only 4-6" in thickness. I was able to get consistent moderate CT scores below the topmost dust layer/slab which was 12" down from surface. Clean and planar shears but they did not jump out.