Gunnison
SnowpackZach Guy · Jan 15, 2013 · Gunnison
Weather
Weather: Broken to overcast skies. Moderate to strong NW winds. Heavy snow transport observed at near and above treeline elevations with large plumes off of high elevation ridgelines. Cold temps.
Snowpack
Fresh windslabs developing on southerly aspects; 4F hardness 3-5" deep. One audible collapse on a low angle southerly slope. Northerly aspects developed a thin wind skin near ridgelines. A pit on a northerly aspect on a near/below treeline starting zone showed faceting throughout the entire snowpack, approximately 100 cm deep. The bottom 30 cm is fist hardness, the mid 30 cm is 4F, and the top is fist hardness, with less than 10 cm of new snow on top. Extended column test showed no fractures or propagation, with the shovel at the ground by 30 taps (ECTX). Lower down on the slope, the entire snowpack was fist hardness facets with "trap-door" skiing. We skied terrain up to 35 degrees, and released numerous facet sluffs to the ground. Most noteworthy was near the top and ran 2,000 feet with 6 to 8 ft deep debris in the apron (L-AS-R2D2-G)