Gunnison
AvalancheZach Guy · Apr 3, 2025 · Gunnison
Weather
Intermittent bursts of snowfall produced up to 20 cm of new low-density snow today under calm to light winds. cloud cover: broken; wind loading: none; rain elevation (ft): N/A; recent snowfall (cm): 20; snow avail for transport: large amounts
Snowpack
Storm totals from this week are about 25 cm at the valley floor and 40 cm at 11,500'; fist hard. Half of that fell today as low-density snow, and on sunnier aspects, there's a thin crust separating the two snow events. One pit on an east aspect at 11,500' showed the storm snow bonded well to the March Meltdown crust, with no facets above it. On the same aspect below treeline, we found facets above the crust, but with only 20 cm of low density snow above it. Crown investigation on a NW to WNW aspect at 11,400' showed a dry hard slab with numerous ice lenses throughout the slab along with a prominent ice lens at the ground, with pockets of dry depth hoar remaining between frozen ice. Given the amount of water that moved into the snowpack here, I would be surprised to see a future persistent slab on a slope with similar characteristics. . We observed one small collapse on a low-angle, northwest-facing slope at 11,000' involving this week's snow about 40 cm deep. Many dry loose avalanches ran naturally today.
Avalanche
Heavy bursts of low-density snow spurred numerous small dry loose avalanches today, which entrained the top 8" to 12" of snow. Some propagated a bit as soft slabs. Various aspects, all elevations. Investigated and updated the details of the large avalanche above Peeler Lakes (attached).