Gunnison
SnowpackEvan Ross · Nov 21, 2025 · Gunnison
Weather
Mostly cloudy, mild temps, calm wind. cloud cover: broken; recent snowfall (cm): 3; snow avail for transport: small smounts
Snowpack
At 11,800, the HS averaged around 30cm. Concave terrain features held more snow. There wasn't previous wind loading along this section of ridge, mostly just scouring and variable snow depths. On these NW-facing slopes, about 5 to 10cm of large garained facets were sitting on the ground. However, both the distribution of that weak layer and the slab above were variable, so there were many places for a shooting crack or collapse to be interrupted. One stability test on a concerning-looking snowpack produced an ECTN result. Perhaps a larger and somewhat concave terrain feature would have had a more consistent snowpack were an avalanche could propagate. Sunnyer aspects lacked much snow and an avalanche problem. A soft crust on those sunny slopes helped keep the skis off the ground. . Got one collapse and a couple of cracks in one concave terrain feature at 11,800. Traveled through a couple of other similar terrain features right next door without a result. These were NW-facing slopes.