Snowpack

Northern San Juan

David MowerNorthern San Juan
View on map

Weather

Overcast sky, 26F with steady wind out of the SW at ridgeline.

Snowpack

Walking the ridgeline north of McMillan Peak I noticed a terrain feature funneling a fair amount of snow by wind transport onto a NE face. Evaluating the snow depth of the upper face at around 2'-3', I initially thought this may be a good spot to make a descent. Concerned about stability on this wind loaded face I stomped above a developing cornice to check for cracking or a release, progressively heading north and closer to the edge. At the thinnest point of the snowpack, around 1', my companion and I simultaneously stomped above the cornice and a crack ran south. It propagated ~150' to the southern terminus of the pocket and released a soft wind slab running about 350' vertical with a crown ranging from 8'' to 18'' .