Gunnison

Avalanche

Ben Pritchett · Jan 24, 2018 · Gunnison

View on map

Weather

Gentle day, partly cloudy w/ high thin clouds. Cool temps and light westerly winds.

Snowpack

This was a trip into a radically weaker snowpack than what I've seen in the Western part of the CBAC forecast area lately. The overall snowpack seemed very similar to Paradise Divide in early December. HS averaged 40-50cm, entire weak. Snowmobiles trenched to ground w/ any throttle. Skis were barely supportive climbing, but it was easy to open the trap doors with any tip pressure skiing down. We experienced rampant collapsing and slope scale cracking in any open terrain on sleds or skis. No cracking observed in forested or rocky areas with a perforated / anchored snowpack.

Avalanche

Triggered one small D1 facet slough on a steep, rocky thin slope on a northwest aspect at 11,500'. Observed one recent D2 persistent slab avalanche on an east aspect at 10,800' that failed to ground. See photos.