Gunnison

Avalanche

Zach Guy · Apr 7, 2025 · Gunnison

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Weather

High temps reached 28 degrees at nearby Carbonate Hill station, at 12,700'. There was evidence of light drifting above treeline in the past 24 hours. cloud cover: clear; wind loading: previous; recent snowfall (cm): 0

Snowpack

On a NE aspect at 13,000', a stability test produced ECTP22 results on the April 1 faceted crust.  The slab was 50cm thick and mostly 4F, with a small amount of 1F.  I also found ECTPV results in a fresh windslab that probably formed in the past 24 hours. It was only 10 cm thick but 1F hard.   The recent snow (above the April 1 crust) became wet throughout on south aspects ATL, and just the surface was wet on east aspects ATL.  The snow surface remained dry on northeast aspects ATL.  The buried April 1 crust remained frozen N/ATL.  Below treeline, there was negligible recent snow and no wet loose concerns in this location.  At these lower elevations, the exposed April 1 crust softened into nice corn and remained supportive to boot pen through the entire day.    . Wet instabilities developed this afternoon with natural and skier triggered activity. No cracking or collapsing observed, but one wet loose triggered a persistent slab, and we also found propagating test results on the same layer.

Avalanche

Natural wet loose activity continued this afternoon on east, south, and west aspects, mostly N/ATL and D1 to D1.5 in size. We triggered several wet loose avalanches as well, one of which pulled out a dry persistent slab on an east aspect ATL. There was also a fresh looking persistent slab on a SE aspect ATL that might have run as recently as yesterday from wind drifting or solar warming.