Southern San Juan

Clear and calm. Temperatures in the upper 30s.

At 11,700 feet on a sheltered, north-facing slope, the snow depth (HS) was 80-90 centimeters. The top 10-15 cm consisted of 1 mm faceting grains from our January 7-8 storm. Below the recent storm layer is a dense, 15-20 cm layer of decomposing and fragmented particles, and 1-2 millimeter facets, over a pencil-hard, 2 cm crust from the December 25 rain event. Directly below the crust are mature facets and depth hoar to the ground. During two extended column tests and a compression test, the snowpack failed below the crust while isolating the column (ECTPV, CTV). To round out our observations, on exposed north and east-facing slopes, the surface snow was wind-scoured with a supportable crust, and on the south-facing slopes, roller balls were forming in the early afternoon.