Gunnison

Quick report

Evan Ross · Jan 10, 2026 · Gunnison

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Weather

Light winds where I traveled. Still a few light snow plumes off the peaks from northerly winds in the alpine. cloud cover: clear; wind loading: light; recent snowfall (cm): 0; snow avail for transport: moderate amounts

Snowpack

A quick stop in lower Elk Creek demonstrated an unreactive snowpack on the couple of slopes I passed through below 10,300ft. A test pit at 10,300 had a 90cm snowpack, with a thick melt-freeze crust from the Christmas rain event, below the snow that has fallen since. ECTX. The east and NE-facing slopes on the NE end of Mt Axtell looked thin. The slab just above the slopes was punchy over weak facets. A couple collapses at the top of the slope didn't transfer into the steeper terrain. Possibly because the tops of the slopes were thinner and more blown out by past wind events. The snowpack lower in the slope looked suspect and uninviting. . Just a couple cracks and collapses on top of Axtell.

Avalanche

I had good views around the area and didn't observe any new avalanche activity.