Lake city to Ouray via Cinnamon Pass & Yankee Boy Basin in Mid-May

[Gulf_Coast_Hiker]

Last year snowpack in that part of the San Juans was at record low by May 14. Right now snowpack is 51 times greater than it was on the date that picture was taken. I guess I should have said it can only be driven in Mid May once every 40+ years.

Just curious, how deep is 51x greater??

[Scott P]

Last year snowpack in that part of the San Juans was at record low by May 14. Right now snowpack is 51 times greater than it was on the date that picture was taken. I guess I should have said it can only be driven in Mid May once every 40+ years.

Just curious, how deep is 51x greater??

It's measured as inches of water rather than snow. The snow water equivalent is currently 20.4 inches of water. In January you can get a rough estimate by multiplying that number by 10 (though in the Colorado mountains when the snow is fresh it is usually closer to 20, but it consolidates so multiplying the number by 10 gives a pretty good estimate in January), but by mid May it's usually closer to 5.

A good estimate would be 102 inches or 8.5 feet, but of course that's just approximate.

Using the same calculation and applying it to last year, there was 0.4 inches of water on the ground when that photo was taken. The estimate for that would be about 2" of snow, which means some areas would have zero and there would be snow drifts around. So last year vs. this year's approximation is 2" depth last year when that photo was take vs. 8.5 feet now. Last year was at record low snowpack by 5/14 though so it would be extremely unusual to have that little of snow. This year has well above normal snowpack, though it is no longer record breaking for the date.

[aggiemountainman]

There's no way you can drive over Cinnamon Pass in Mid-May even in a drought year. This year you will be lucky if it is open by August (depending on how the dust storms have affected the snowpack).

PS, March, April, and May is when the snow deepest in the high mountains (at least in most years).

Also, what is your proficiency with an ice axe? If you aren't proficient with an ice axe, Sneffels is not a good idea in May or June and in this year probably not most or all of July either.

No ice axe experience. Did the ridge route for sneffels last October and have spikes tho, did Wetterhorn last year around the same time of year, but I'm guessing it was exceptionally dry? Anyways, thanks for clarifying.

[Scott P]

No ice axe experience.

It wouldn't be a good idea to try it until at least late July this year unless the dust layer causes it to melt out earlier.

Wetterhorn last year around the same time of year, but I'm guessing it was exceptionally dry?

Record dry. At least the driest in 40+ years, but probably a lot longer than that.

[aggiemountainman]

No ice axe experience.

It wouldn't be a good idea to try it until at least late July this year unless the dust layer causes it to melt out earlier.

Wetterhorn last year around the same time of year, but I'm guessing it was exceptionally dry?

Record dry. At least the driest in 40+ years, but probably a lot longer than that.

This is a bit off-topic, but this December I plan on trying to get ice axe training/avalanche training. Any ideas on where to look for classes and such?

[supranihilest]

This is a bit off-topic, but this December I plan on trying to get ice axe training/avalanche training. Any ideas on where to look for classes and such?

The Colorado Mountain Club offers snow classes. When I was in the CMC I took Basic Snow and Intermediate Snow which taught the technical skills needed for climbing snow in Colorado. They did not teach avalanche training or glacier and crevasse rescue training.

[Scott P]

This is a bit off-topic, but this December I plan on trying to get ice axe training/avalanche training. Any ideas on where to look for classes and such?

December is usually not a good time to learn with an ice axe, at least not in Colorado. Spring snow is much better. I second checking with the CMC. If you wanted something closer to the San Juans, try San Juan Mountain guides or Telluride Mountain guides and see what they say.

I learned with the Wasatch Mountain Club near Salt Lake City, but that's father for you. They always do their trainings in late April and early May. Unfortunately, the basic class was yesterday so you wouldn't make that one!

https://www.wasatchmountainclub.org/cal ... s-training

If you didn't want the whole class, I believe you can stay just for the ice axe part. At least that's how it used to be.

[Gulf_Coast_Hiker]

Just curious, how deep is 51x greater??

It's measured as inches of water rather than snow. The snow water equivalent is currently 20.4 inches of water. In January you can get a rough estimate by multiplying that number by 10 (though in the Colorado mountains when the snow is fresh it is usually closer to 20, but it consolidates so multiplying the number by 10 gives a pretty good estimate in January), but by mid May it's usually closer to 5.

A good estimate would be 102 inches or 8.5 feet, but of course that's just approximate.

Using the same calculation and applying it to last year, there was 0.4 inches of water on the ground when that photo was taken. The estimate for that would be about 2" of snow, which means some areas would have zero and there would be snow drifts around. So last year vs. this year's approximation is 2" depth last year when that photo was take vs. 8.5 feet now. Last year was at record low snowpack by 5/14 though so it would be extremely unusual to have that little of snow. This year has well above normal snowpack, though it is no longer record breaking for the date.

Very cool, thanks for the info!

[nsaladin]

This was from 2019, this isn't the Burns Gulch slide, this is a lower one just above Eureka. Taken 5/30/19.

AlpineLoop2019.jpg

Not far from the same area - September 2019

IMG_5571.jpeg (142.07 KiB) Viewed 850 times

[LetsGoMets]

This was from 2019, this isn't the Burns Gulch slide, this is a lower one just above Eureka. Taken 5/30/19.

AlpineLoop2019.jpg

Not far from the same area - September 2019
IMG_5571.jpeg

We should just have a Land Cruiser porn thread.

[Chicago Transplant]

This was from 2019, this isn't the Burns Gulch slide, this is a lower one just above Eureka. Taken 5/30/19.

AlpineLoop2019.jpg

Not far from the same area - September 2019
IMG_5571.jpeg

Nice, was that the Burns Gulch area slide? They hadn't gotten that far in late May, we hiked up the road and turned around at Burns Gulch, we had climbed some 12ers by the base of Ophir and hiked up that road too. All the slide path cuts were so cool to see.

Note that at the snow shed on 550 the snow in the canyon was higher than the road by a fair amount, was back on 550 in September and the canyon still hadn't melted out yet.

[Sluglas]

The Burns Gulch slide never melted out completely that summer, it was crazy. Was still there in the Fall when snow started falling again. Never saw anything like that in Colorado. This year won't be as dramatic even though the snowpack got deeper because we didn't see the same kind of avalanche activity this year. In 2019 it all came in a very short stretch, this year was more consistent.