Gunnison

Avalanche

Crested Butte Avalanche Center · Nov 18, 2018 · Gunnison

Weather

Clear, Partly Cloudy. Temperatures stayed around and below freezing majority of the day. Winds in the bowl were light. No precipitation (valid through 3pm).

Snowpack

Snow depth varying depending on wind deposit, but consistently around 70-80 cm in the deeper areas, where the avalanche occurred. In the pit I dug at 55cm was a prominent weak layer with faceted snow. On top sat a more consolidated slab about 20-30 cm deep. Top slab was about four fingers whereas the next layer was fist and rotten. When doing a CT test, There was failure at 55cm at 15 making it a CTM.

Avalanche

There has been two avalanches in Paradise Bowl out Paradise divide this year. The one witnessed happened 11/17/2018. It was human triggered and broke off in an area filled with trigger points. It didn't propagate far and did not go all the way to the basin floor. I would call it and R1 D1 slide. The slope angle at and around the crown was 35+ and strictly N aspect. I would imagine that it failed on the faceted weak layer based on the pit I dug, which was right next to the slide same aspect and slope angle.