Gunnison
AvalancheZach Guy · Nov 29, 2020 · Gunnison
Weather
Awesome.
Snowpack
Continuing the hunt for persistent slab feedback and not finding it. Went to a high, northerly bowl that we documented in early November as a potential problem slope with continuous weak layer coverage across the whole bowl. The 11/14 northwest wind event had clearly scoured back most of the slab, evidenced by reverse cornicing on the ridge, some veg poking out mid-bowl, and pole probing. A representative pit photo is attached, showing a shallow snowpack without the structure for a persistent slab. There were a few small lobes of potentially crossloaded slabs in the bowl that we easily avoided. In general, the snowpack here is weathering the decaying process much better than what I observed recently at Coney’s and Snodgrass: previous wind events and/or a deeper warmer snowpack is maintaining a supportive midpack so far. Near surface faceting is still occurring at all elevations. No surface hoar observed here.
Avalanche
No recent avalanches. Spotted a few more small wind slabs from early last week.