Gunnison

Avalanche

Zach Guy · Feb 12, 2021 · Gunnison

Weather

Calm winds where we traveled, audible evidence of stronger winds aloft. Very light snowfall with a few, short-lived moderate pulses (up to S2). About 2? storm total.

Snowpack

Traveled to the shallowest part of our forecast area and found the depth hoar layer about 50 to 80 cm down, (12/10 layer) is very sensitive to human triggering. We experienced large, rumbling collapses and shooting cracks on almost every slope we crossed (SE and E aspects). Shooting cracks would span entire slopes and through mature aspens. Collapses would visibly shake trees several hundred feet away. Say no more, snowpack, we’ll stick to low angle terrain. In Lower Cement Creek (down valley from Deadman’s Trailhead), snow depths are still quite shallow and there doesn’t appear to be enough volume in most of the start zones or tracks for natural activity to hit the road yet.

Avalanche

From 75 feet away, we remotely triggered a persistent slab that failed on depth hoar near the ground, about 2.5? thick. The avalanche was small in size (D1) because it was on a small terrain feature. See photo.