Gunnison

Avalanche

Ben Pritchett · Dec 21, 2023 · Gunnison

Weather

Cloudy, warm, no wind.

Snowpack

The snowpack in the area we traveled is similar to many high-frequency avalanche paths in the Ruby Range that ran in early December. The snowpack in this path was shallower and less supportive than adjacent areas that held onto their season's snowpack, but it was not particularly weak. Most of the snowpack was 4-finger hard, with just a little Fist-hard faceted snow at the surface. The texture of the snow surface in the start zone felt similar to areas that had not avalanched - it was not dramatically weaker.

Avalanche

Pushed a Loose Dry avalanche that ran around 1000', but it only piled up a few feet deep in the gully. It ran slowly, with little destructive force.