Gunnison

Avalanche

Zach Guy · Jan 5, 2017 · Gunnison

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Weather

Weather: S2 to S5 rates. Light to moderate down-valley winds; trees visibly shaking as we gained a gladed ridgeline. Temps decreased through the day.

Snowpack

Snowpack: In a wind sheltered, partially gladed slope below treeline: 60 cm of fist hard, storm snow over Jan 1st near surface facet layer. Easy and moderate broken fractures in mid-storm and storm interface layers. We traveled exclusively in dense, moderate angle trees and saw no signs of instabilities other than shallow cracking. Ski pen is knee deep. Boot pen is belly button deep. Tree well hazards were a serious concern in this non-avalanche terrain.

Avalanche

Avalanches: Was hoping to get views of some avalanche paths but it was snowing too dang hard to see anything. Saw one natural D1.5 storm slab on a small feature.