Gunnison

Avalanche

CBAC Public Teocalli · Feb 11, 2024 · Gunnison

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Weather

clear, calm though evidence of wind overnight or early morning

Snowpack

Shallow and supportive by a sun crust lower down with maybe 5" of recycled powder. As we ascended higher there was more wind effect, hollow sections followed by shallow wind eroded bits with shrubbery sticking out

Avalanche

At about 11500 ft we were ascending the low angle ridge of Teocalli and got a big collapse. A small isolated pocket on a wind drift released probably 500 vertical feet above us, then sympathetically released something higher up in the cliffs, then a slab off a more Eastern aspect probably 1000 feet above us, 100 feet wide, maybe 8" deep and ran maybe 500 feet down the main gully beneath the face