Gunnison

Snowpack

Anonymous · Dec 23, 2012 · Gunnison

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Weather

Toured all day Saturday above Pittsburgh. Wx was calm and clear, with no wind and warm temps in the 30s.

Snowpack

Observed many natural avalanches from the last storm on N-E aspects that had released earlier in the week, and with warming temps saw pinwheels and snowballs on S aspects. Lots of snow was falling from the trees. The snow was very consolidated compared to last weekend and we were only getting about 20 cms of ski penetration. Dug a small pit on a 36 degree NE slope: HS 95 cm with 10-12 cms of facets at the bottom. This layer seems to have shrunk in half with the weight of the last storms' snow. CT22- failed on facets, ECT28- with unclean propagation, and a shovel shear yielded results with moderate force but failed on an unclean layer @ 37 cms. We skied multiple NE facing slopes of 30-40 degrees with no signs of instability. Seems that this storm provided us with a substantial base and is healing well.