Gunnison

Snowpack

Ben Pritchett · Nov 15, 2014 · Gunnison

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Weather

Light to Moderate snow throughout the day. Seemed like frontal passage around Noon-1PM when the Precip intensity ramped up, as did the NW winds.

Snowpack

Punchy, "upside-down." Rampant cracking in areas where the storm snow sits on October's snow, especially where the storm snow was drifting and becoming a bit more cohesive. Many times, we triggered 20-40' long cracks near the Coney's ridge; with one significant collapse and en-echelon cracking 100+' downslope, but the slope didn't avalanche. See photos. In areas where storm snow fell on dirt, only cracking underfoot, with no propagation beyond a skis length away. HS ranged from 50-90cm (120+cm in ridgetop drifts), with estimated field avg around 65cm deep.