Gunnison
AvalancheCrested Butte Avalanche Center · Jan 30, 2014 · Gunnison
Weather
Overcast and snowing throughout the day. S1 with lots of grauple before noon then snowing S2 to S5 after noon until we were back at the trail head at 3pm. About 6" of snow between 11am and 2pm. On the Schkookel ridgeline winds were light out of the West around 1pm. Otherwise calm winds below the ridge on the North side.
Snowpack
On NE slopes NTL/BTL, storm slabs 5-15" deep were reactive on both a thin rain crust and the facets below. Small collapses and shooting cracks were the norm today on slopes 35 degrees and less. On steeper slopes, shallow storm slabs were producing D1 to D1.5 avalanches that propagated the width of entire avalanche paths in places. The storm snow also had several layers of graupel that would start sloughing in steep terrain, often triggering the storm slabs too.
Avalanche
Multiple skier triggered D1-1.5 storm slabs that were small relative to the avalanche path but could propagate the entire with of the path in the start zone. Sloughing in high 30 or 40 degree terrain as well.