Gunnison

Avalanche

Zach Guy · Jan 15, 2014 · Gunnison

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Weather

Warm, clear skies. Periods of moderate snow transport from NW winds.

Snowpack

Near ridgetop, heavy scouring on Northerly slopes. Large, firm sastrugi features. Soft, rippled sastrugi near treeline, and settled powder below treeline with thin near surface facets already developing on open slopes. Thick facet layer was ~2-3' deep below treeline. No signs of instability until we reached valley bottom, where we got a rumbling collapse on a surface hoar layer near the creek bed. Rollerballs on steep southerly slopes.

Avalanche

A few new slides since last Saturday's clear skies, occurred in the last few days. 1x SS-N-R1-D1.5-S on East aspect near treeline, Redwell Basin (~15" deep) 1x HS-N-R2-D2.5-O on NE aspect above treeline, Mt. Axtell 4th Bowl (~4' deep) 4x SS-N-R2-D1-I on S/SW aspects near treeline, Schuykill Ridge (8-12" windslabs failed yesterday on 1/11 MFcr) 1x SS-N-R1-D1.5-S on NE aspect above treeline, windslab on Scarp Ridge, ~18" deep