Northern San Juan

Snowpack

We found widespread popping and dropping, and less shooting cracking and releasing than previous days on similar terrain. East through south-east aspects showed better stability. On these slopes buried facet layers were thinner and the bond between layers stronger. Sun crusts were found on exposed slopes from east through se. Shaded areas on these aspects showed greater instability due to deeper buried facet layers. Stability seemed to be greater at higher elevations - we postulated due to greater wind impact and solar changes.