JFS Canyon Marias Pass
Quick report
4-8" of new snow starting moving this afternoon with sunshine and warming temperatures. Multiple loose snow avalanches observed, but no recent slab avalanches.
Weather
• Partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies by late afternoon. No precipitation with calm winds on the Canyon floor and light SW winds above 6000’. • Daytime high temperatures reached the low-40s °F on the Canyon floor and the high-20s above 6000’.
Snowpack
• Snowfall totals on the Canyon floor from Mar. 10th/11th ranged from 4-8” with the west end favored. • Recent snowfall totals at upper elevations ranged from 6-8” with very little wind affected snow at all elevations. • A couple old wind slabs produced some minor cracking (2-3’) underfoot.
Avalanche
• Recent avalanche activity above the rail today includes: o Path 1163, both the main path and the lower east headwall had multiple D1-D1.5 wet loose avalanches with debris stopping well short of the rail at 4800’ elevation. o Also, some minor D1 wet loose avalanches in Burnout, Umbrella, Shed 12, and a few steep cutbanks above the highway and river. No debris affecting the rail or Hwy. • Outside the Program Area: o Several loose dry avalanches running on steep, rocky high elevation terrain. Witnessed one dry loose D1.5 run on the east face of Point 8142’ just west of Little Dog at around 1300 (photo). Initiated at around 8000’ and ran to about 6800’. o Two old crowns (estimate D2 size) on the east face of Elk Mtn (photo). Unknown occurrence date and no other details known.