Gunnison

Snowpack

Zach Guy · Feb 12, 2013 · Gunnison

Weather

Clear skies building to scattered in the afternoon. Winds were moderate to strong from the N to NW along the Ruby Divide, but looking around didn't see much evidence of winds on near and below treeline slopes. Moderate snow transport onto S, SE, E aspects above treeline, and some crossloading on W. Temps were unseasonably cold.

Snowpack

Snowpack: Northwest aspects above treeline were getting scoured, but lower in more protected areas, no signs of instability in this week's snow. Felt incohesive and not slabby. West aspects ATL starting to feel upside down and some cracking on crossloaded slopes where shallow (4") fresh windslabs are forming on old windboard. Southeast and South aspects have 8-12" of 4F slab over crusts, possibly denser below ridglines. All aspects have either sastrugi or wind texture at the surface, except in very sheltered areas, where it was precip particles. Avalanche Activity: Observed about 5 shallow windslab avalanches that occurred over the course of the day on E, SE, and S aspects (SS-N-R1D1/1.5-I), all above treeline. Crown depths ranging from 8" to 12". We also skier triggered a similar slide, about 5-8" deep running on the MF crusts that formed last week, which ran about 1500 ft.