Gunnison
SnowpackStephen Dilk · Jan 9, 2013 · Gunnison
Weather
Completely clear blue sky day (bluebird) with almost no wind, but with warming temperatures that peaked over 32 degrees. Great visibility. I noticed moderate wind loading on the summit as I looked to across the ridge to the west. Definite cornice formation. From my vantage point I would estimate they were at least 2 feet thick. I observed a skier dropping in off one. It held.
Snowpack
Bare with me, this is my first time doing this. My partner and I looked at the exposed face of the summit ridge that became exposed after we dug into it and cleared the face. We noticed the persistent weak layer of depth hoar in the strata of the snow (we did not have a measuring device-sorry). Near the summit, we also observed hoar snow growth in the space of a foot hole with crystals as large as half an inch. The top layer of powder was soft with larger crystals. It was not cohesive at all, very faceted, flat face crystals were visible with the naked eye. I noticed the surface snow had snow crust in places with minor cracking in those areas.