Gunnison
AvalancheBen Pritchett and Eric Murrow · Dec 18, 2023 · Gunnison
Weather
Broken to high overcast skies. Warm, with light winds.
Snowpack
We got propagating ECT (hard) results in two separate locations below treeline on northeast aspects around 10,500 feet. The slab is up to 1 finger hard, but generally 4 finger, above fist hard depth hoar above the basal facets. The structure is poor, but instability signs are absent. Boot penetration in this area passes through the slab into the weak layer near the ground. The snow surface in protected, northerly terrain is faceted enough to produce minor sloughing in very steep terrain. We found the most recently buried Surface Hoar Layer (December 7th) stands proud in the snowpack about a foot down but lacks a slab above to cause a problem. At the head of the drainage on sunny aspects near and just below 12,000 feet, there is little threat of a triggered slab avalanche. Thin, hard melt/freeze crusts formed over the weekend that were typically supportive to skis on steep slopes. Northerly wind events this winter have beat up/stripped many northerly alpine terrain features. Along Scarp Ridge in this area, the drifting patterns pointed to the south and left the northerly sides hard or stripped (see photo).
Avalanche
None, other than tiny facet sluffing at the snow surface on slopes over 40 degrees.