Gunnison
AvalancheAnonymous · Mar 22, 2025 · Gunnison
Weather
Overcast. Mostly light winds in this area with occasional light drifting. Consistent snow plums visible up high in the afternoon. cloud cover: overcast; wind loading: light; recent snowfall (cm): 15
Snowpack
The tree glades at 10,900ft had 6" of new snow. A weather station in the same area at 11,300ft showed 7" of new snow. Here are a couple of notes from a snow profile in the upper snowpack. 10,900ft, NE aspect at 60 degrees, in a cross-loaded wind wale. HS was 190cm. The 3/13 interface was down 50cm under an F to 4F slab. 1 to 1.5mm facets were sitting on a thin crust over harder snow. .
Avalanche
While targeting an area to dig, we remotely triggered a large D2.5 avalanche. This avalanche failed on small 1mm to 1.5mm facets at the 3/13 interface. The crown broke on a cross-loaded terrain feature and then propagated across much of the avalanche path. The crown height averaged in the 45cm to 55cm range, with a max crown height of around 70cm. The avalanche ran 1800ft and pushed into the flat valley below.