Northern San Juan
SnowpackJeff Dobronyi · Dec 3, 2014 · Northern San Juan
Weather
11,900', West aspect, above treeline at the top of Whorehouse Hoses, time 1330. Broken clouds, no precipitation, light wind but direction not observed. All morning, sky was obscured and precip was S1, winds seem light but no formal obs taken.
Snowpack
11,900, West aspect, above treeline at the top of Whorehouse Hoses, time 1330. In a 35 degree gully above the ice climb, HS was 60cm, HN was ~10cm. Below new snow, snowpack was a single layer, 1F+ at the surface and 4F at the ground. This gully had probably been loaded by wind and debris from above, judging by its terrain characteristics and lack of snow on the open slopes around the gully. Facets at the ground appeared to be ~1mm in size, no large basal facets observed. Slab supported body weight, no whumphing, cracking, or even hollow sounds observed. Slab composed of small facets at the old surface. New snow became warm and cohesive by noon, and was not bonding well to old snow. Multiple very small loose snow avalanches observed on steeper terrain features, like debris aprons and convex rollovers.