Gunnison
AvalancheCBAC Forecaster · Feb 7, 2024 · Gunnison
Weather
On and off snowfall midday and early afternoon. A few periods of heavy graupel. Moderate westerly winds with strong gusts at ridgetop. About 7 inches of dense new snow at 11,000 feet in the afternoon.
Snowpack
About 7" of dense, new snow as of 3 pm around Elkton diminished to about 3 inches at the Washington Gulch trailhead. I experienced muffled collapses in sheltered terrain on both surface hoar/facets and thin, brittle crusts on the sunnier portion of east aspect. Slab thickness was around 50 to 60 cm in this area (20-24 inches) with around 6 inches of 4-finger hardess at the bottom of the slab. Slopes facing north or east steeper than 35 degrees seemed very likely to release an avalanche. Winds shifted to the west around noon and transported snow to leeward features. In sheltered areas, I commonly experienced muffled collapses and shooting cracks on east and northeast aspects in areas toured just below and above 11,000 feet. I remotely triggered two avalanches on east to northeast aspects on the late January persistent weak layer. Collapses in drifted areas became noticeably louder as I moved over stiffer snow. I quickly poked into southerly slopes in the area, storm totals look too small to produce significant avalanche activity other than well-drifted terrain; this could change if the storm overproduces. Crusts below Wednesday's snow are soft and thin (no more than 1cm).
Avalanche
I remotely triggered two avalanches on the late January persistent weak layer. Weak layer varied from surface hoar to facets to friable crusts above facets (east aspects). I didn't have to try, just needed to walk above and slopes failed.