Gunnison
AvalancheEvan Ross and Eric Murrow · Feb 16, 2025 · Gunnison
Weather
Partly cloudy in the morning, becoming mostly cloudy to overcast in the early afternoon. Snow plumes began to appear off the high peaks in the afternoon.
Snowpack
In sheltered areas, settled snow depths ranged from 70cm near the trailhead to nearly 100cm at 11,500 feet. The slab remains mostly fist hard with a small amount of 4-finger hard snow at the base of the slab. Issues in the storm snow linger about halfway down in the slab and could produce a triggered avalanche. A thin layer of lightly faceted grains exists below the recent slab above a crust; although this layer didn't produce a result in tests, an avalanche there couldn't be ruled out. It certainly appeared less likely than the very weak snow you find at this interface on the north half of the compass. The few shady slopes we probed at and traveled above clearly have an ugly, Persistent Slab structure. I suspect triggered avalanches will remain an issue well into the foreseeable future. We observed a quiet snowpack while ascending Red Coon Glades. We targeted a couple of suspect slopes in Red Coon Bowl, and with some targeted effort, we produced two avalanches. We received minor collapses before those avalanches released.
Avalanche
We targeted a couple of suspect slopes in Red Coon Bowl. NE aspects around 11,600ft. With some targeted effort, we were able to initiate a couple of collapses that resulted in remotely triggered avalanches. Another natural avalanche is documented here from the other side of Red Coon Bowl.