Gunnison

Snowpack

Anonymous · Dec 28, 2012 · Gunnison

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Weather

Cold temps: -15C (5°F) @ 12:30p, Few clouds in AM becoming broken thin clouds by PM w/ valley fog. Sundogs most the day. Winds were light to moderate, picking up in the PM. Light wind loading occurring even in valley bottom. At ridgetop consistently moderate NW winds w/ moderate windloading occurring.

Snowpack

Average HS of 100cm. Widespread persistent slab structure w/ 15-20cm of facets on the ground. Top 10cm of recent storm snow seemed less cohesive than obs from Thursday...due to light snowfall yesterday and maybe NSF in past 24hr? Cornices building at ridgetop thru the day. Despite signs of wind effect, skiing was "cold smoke" conditions and not too slabby on the surface. Looked for failures on 12/23 NSF/SH, but nothing notable. A couple localized collapses near trees. One big collapse on NE side of ridge above skiers left bowl. Minimal sluffing w/ ski cut on roll >35°. Still spooky w/ current snowpack structure and trend towards lower likelyhood but higher consequence avy conditions. Got the best look at Schuylkill Ridge in over a week. The terrain is covered with countless old crowns.