Gunnison
SnowpackJohn MacKinnon · Feb 21, 2013 · Gunnison
Weather
Tour in East River Valley under broken to overcast skies with high thin clouds. Light to moderate northwest winds with very light and isolated scattered snow showers. I did not observe any blowing snow below treeline while touring, but at the trailhead and on the drive home I noticed light blowing snow in exposed terrain below treeline.
Snowpack
Found about 2-5" of new snow on a variety of surfaces--melt-freeze crusts, wind crusts and DFs. Skied slopes up to mid-40 degrees. Triggered a small loose-dry snow avalanche--L-ASc-R1-D1-O--on a hard ski cut over a steep convex roll. The sluff ran close to 250 vertical feet and was about 20 feet wide. It did not step down into older faceted layers but did entrain older storm snow. Steep E-NE slopes were weak and variable with each turn bringing a surprise.