Gunnison

Snowpack

Toured Wash Gulch today, staying on valley floor. No cracking or whompfing. Old ski tracks completely blown in or filled in depending on wind protected terrain. Started from trailhead approx 1000hrs. Strong NE(Valley) Wind; Air temp -9C; New stellars falling at a rate of approx 1.5cm/hr (S5-hard to determine due to winds); sky conditions-obscured; intense blowing snow; Pit dug with HS 110cm-Boot pen @80cm; Fist hard 15cm of new snow on top of 1F hard 45cm slab; Shovel tilt test at new snow interface-easy; 1F slab resting on 15cm fist hard facets on top of 30cm 1F 2mm facets. CTH 23 BRK, ECTX. No sign of any up or down tracks, by the time I skinned out approx 2 hours later the track I put in to get there was either completely blown in or partially buried depending on location. Small cornice build up on all cross loaded terrain features. Varying conditions on skin in, generally hard wind slabs on all leeward features covered by approx 5cm of new snow.