Gunnison
SnowpackAnonymous · Dec 23, 2012 · Gunnison
Weather
Weather remained calm, partly cloudy with high thin clouds with an observed air temp of -4C at 12 pm.
Snowpack
Tour in Washington Gulch on NE-E-SE aspects below treeline. We observed no recent avalanche activity except a few loose snow slides off the south face of Gothic that occurred yesterday. We heard localized collapsing on NE aspects---some were rumbling and were large enough to drop snow from nearby trees. We observed localized shooting cracks on NE aspects as well. Dug three profiles on NE-SE aspects---HS ranged from 55cm-72cm. NE and E aspects still showing ~50 cm persistent slab resting on Dec. 3rd. facets/DH. Compression tests revealed sudden collapses on this layer and both ECTs and PSTs indicated potential for propagation. More SE facing slopes had a shallower snowpack and test results did not show sudden failures or propagation. We also noticed large settlement cones on both the aspens and the conifers. The observed surface form was a mix of surface hoar (2.0 mm) and surface facets (0.5 mm)