Northern San Juan

New snow and strong winds continue to stress a fragile snowpack. You can trigger a large and dangerous avalanche where firm slabs of snow rest above weak old snow. West to north through southeast-facing slopes are the most dangerous. Avoid traveling near common trigger points, such as convex rollovers, rocky outcrops, or the edges of slopes where the margins of a slab are the thinnest and easiest to trigger. Give yourself a wide buffer from suspect slopes because you could trigger an avalanche from a distance or below. Tracks on a slope or a lack of cracking or collapsing do not indicate stable conditions.

Strong northerly winds on Friday formed small reactive wind slabs on leeward slopes, which may be hidden by Saturday's snowfall. Cracking and collapsing in wind-stiffened snow indicates that you should move to slopes less than about 30 degrees steep.

On Tuesday, January 7, a backcountry skier was caught and killed in an avalanche on Red Mountain Number 3, near Red Mountain Pass. The avalanche was triggered on a wind-drifted northwest-facing slope near treeline. Our deepest condolences to the deceased skier's family, friends, and community. You can read the preliminary accident report here.