Gunnison
SnowpackJohn MacKinnon · Mar 5, 2013 · Gunnison
Weather
Clear skies, light westerly winds becoming moderate above TL and light blowing snow above 12,000 ft. Mild temperatures and strong solar radiation.
Snowpack
Lots of cracking and collapsing while putting in the skin track on SE aspects above 11,000 ft. Some rumbling collapses. Also, numerous shooting cracks on slopes nearing 30 degrees. Some cracks propagated over 10 meters uphill and downhill. Recent storm snow ~30 cm in the Red-Coon Glades area. By 11 am the top 5 cm had become moist. By 2 pm, the top 10-15 cm had become moist. All recent storm snow is resting on a facet/crust combo on observed sunny aspects. The snowpack remained dry above TL on the Coon Summit Ridge. On a SW aspect below TL, I observed 20 cm of wet snow on a crust. Observed 2 recent slab avalanches. The first was off the west ridge of Red Lady Bowl in the steep wind-loaded area that routinely slides--east aspect near TL. Looks like a cornice drop (natural or human-triggered) released a wind-loaded pocket ~50 meters x 50 meters. Crown height from across the bowl estimated at ~50 cm. SS-AC?-R1-D2-I. Also observed a recent slab from Coon Basin on a steep east aspect at TL. SS-N-R1-D2-I that ran down to the bench on Coon Basin~250 meters. Crown height estimated at 50 cm.