Gunnison

Snowpack

John MacKinnon · Feb 12, 2012 · Gunnison

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Weather

Tour in Long Lake area: overcast skies, intermittent snow throughout day with some periods of mod-heavy snowfall (S3). Southwest winds picked up around 11 am and blew hard enough to transport snow for a couple hours in the early afternoon. Total daytime snow accumulation of 14 cm at Washington Gulch TH by 3 pm

Snowpack

Observed several large collapses and shooting cracks on west aspects and an ECTP 13 (SC) showed potential for propagation on west aspects as well. The ECT broke on facets 30 cm from the ground. One party reported a snowboarder triggering an avalanche on a 38 degree convex roll on an E aspect BTL. The slide had a crown of 2 feet, was 35 feet wide, and ran for 150 feet--SS-ARu-R1-D1.5-O. It ran on facets.