Gunnison

Avalanche

Ben Pritchett · Apr 3, 2020 · Gunnison

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Weather

Mostly clear. Temps crept up from a cold start towards a warm day. Butte snotel (10,161') hit 37. Light to moderate winds drifted snow at ridge crest continuing cornice growth but not much loading on the slopes below.

Snowpack

Still finding propagating (ECTP 13) test results on the March 18th crust, releasing on 1mm facets on an east-southeast facing slope near treeline (HS 185). Then nearby on a deeper northeast-facing slope (HS 225) there were no failures in small or large column tests. Surfaces wetted and predictably sloughed on stiff old snow surfaces. Sluffs were dry on the shady side of the compass, wet on the sunny side, both small with no gouging below old crusts. Wind Slab avalanche problems seem small and isolated, but the fresh drifts on the cornices are easy to trigger.

Avalanche

none