Gunnison
AvalancheCBAC Staff · Nov 20, 2024 · Gunnison
Weather
Evidence of yesterday's wind transport above 11.5k, most recently from NW winds.
Snowpack
Snowpack structures (not including the 4" to 6" of fist hard, new snow on the surface) North and Northeast aspects N/BTL: The snowpack is entirely faceted (typically 1-1.5mm, some 2 mm grains near the ground, F or F+). The snowpack is capped by a layer of hard wind crust or old wind slab in some areas as you gain elevation to NTL. East aspects N/BTL: There are several thin, collapsible crusts sandwiched between facet layers (1-2 mm, F). Crusts dissipate at higher elevations or on more ENE facing slopes. The crust/facet sandwiches look especially troublesome for long-lived persistent issues. Southeast aspects N/ATL: There is a thick, hard melt-freeze crust below the recent storm snow. In some areas, that crust goes to the ground without any weak layers. On some terrain features with a deeper snowpack, there is a facet layer below this supportive crust, and I found percolation columns through it where I dug. At lower elevations, the recent snow fell on bare ground or a patchwork of crusts. West/Northwest aspects: The most exposed terrain is wind eroded with discontinuous snow coverage. Sufficient coverage exists on more protected slopes.
Avalanche
Numerous small storm instabilities ran yesterday, both shallow soft slabs and sluffs, from upper elevations. I spotted two avalanches that appeared to step down into older snow involving thin harder slabs that formed during last week's wind event; not sure though. These were mid slope on easterly aspects of Gothic and Baldy, still small in size.