Gunnison

Avalanche

Ben Pritchett · Dec 7, 2016 · Gunnison

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Weather

Broken skies early became overcast with light snow and stinkin' cold, getting colder from mid-morning on. Light North to Northwest winds.

Snowpack

22cm of cold smoke buried the facets from the last week (Dec 6th interface). Above treeline, last night's winds built fresh slabs, but in sheltered areas there's no slab on the Dec 6th facets. The November snow is strengthening / sintering making a right-side-up base. No cracking or collapsing observed today while breaking trail into terrain with no prior tracks on North through East aspect. Test skiing and snowpack tests produced no results. That said, the December 6th facets will likely come to life if the snow forecasted for the weekend comes to life.

Avalanche

12,000', East aspect, SS-N-R1-D1.5-I at the top of Purple Palace, ran from overnight winds. Crown only lightly filled in. 11,700' Northeast aspect, SS-N-R1-D1-I off Schuylkill Mtn Southeast ridge. Crown still crisp, but shallow, highlighted in photo attached.