Northern San Juan

Small loose dry avalanches were reactive to ski pressure on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, These avalanches were slow-moving and steeper slopes over 38 degrees were needed to get them moving more than a few feet. I also saw old wet slab avalanche debris for a large D2 avalanche. This is notable because I traveled in this area on the 24th and did not see this slide. This large avalanche failed naturally sometime between the morning of the 24th and the 29th, which is over a week into the warming trend and days after humans triggered similar avalanches on adjacent slopes. This is just another observation that highlights the tricky nature of wet slab avalanches and periods of extended warming.

Southwest winds today were within drifting speeds with an average of 21 mph and peak gust of 45 mph at nearby Putney weather station. Red Mountain Pass SNOTEL site measured in at 17 inches of new snow and 1.6 in Snow Water Equivalent by the end of the day on April 1st.

Around 14 inches of new snow sits on either bare ground or a supportable refrozen snow surface ( unsupportable moist old snow was observed on shallow slopes in the trees up to about 11,400 ft). I traveled up to 12,400 ft and found minor wind slab development right at ridgeline. Poor visibility limited travel and observations at higher elevations. These small wind drifts were reactive to ski pressure but failed to extend below ridgeline onto steeper slopes where I traveled. Larger wind drifts and slab formation are more likely at higher elevations. Despite the warm nature of this storm, small loose avalanches were reactive to ski pressure. A quick pit and corresponding compression test and shovel shear highlighted a weak layer at a density change within the new storm snow. New snow where I travelled and dug was Fist hard and did not contain any slab character.