Gunnison

Avalanche

Zach and Evan Guy and Ross · Dec 28, 2021 · Gunnison

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Weather

Weather: Moderate snowfall all afternoon, light winds in valley location.

Snowpack

Snowpack: Deep, unconsolidated snowpack; about 5 feet down to persistent weak layers. Boot pen is about 4 feet. We slope cut a handful of low elevation, south facing test slopes with no cracking or signs of instability. We got one large collapse on a low angle, shady aspect while Evan and I were both wrestling with his stuck snowmobile (see photo). The wrestle-your-snowmobile-unstuck test did not produce any results on southerly facing, below treeline slope, despite numerous tests in various locations.

Avalanche

Avalanches: Poor visibility. 7 sisters stayed put. Couldn’t see much else for avalanche terrain.