Gunnison
AvalancheBen Pritchett · Mar 3, 2022 · Gunnison
Weather
Cloudy, warm, with increasing winds in the afternoon.
Snowpack
This week's warm weather dramatically altered the snowpack. Covering around 60 miles, we found far more crusts than powder.
We found the driest and weakest snow on northwest through north to northeast-facing wind-sheltered slopes between about 10,000 feet and 12,000'. Below 10,000' even the shadiest slopes had temperature crusts. Above 12,000' the wind and sun have damaged snow surfaces.
Meltwater remained unfrozen in the upper snowpack on east through south to west-facing slopes at most elevations. Surface crusts stayed hard most of the day with enough cloud cover to cut the incoming radiation, but below the crusts the recently wetted facets did not freeze. We experienced many collapses and long-running cracks when traveling over the wetted facet layers. That's good news in the long-run, once these wet layers refreeze and strengthen.
We found the driest and weakest snow on northwest through north to northeast-facing wind-sheltered slopes between about 10,000 feet and 12,000'. Below 10,000' even the shadiest slopes had temperature crusts. Above 12,000' the wind and sun have damaged snow surfaces.
Meltwater remained unfrozen in the upper snowpack on east through south to west-facing slopes at most elevations. Surface crusts stayed hard most of the day with enough cloud cover to cut the incoming radiation, but below the crusts the recently wetted facets did not freeze. We experienced many collapses and long-running cracks when traveling over the wetted facet layers. That's good news in the long-run, once these wet layers refreeze and strengthen.
Avalanche
Saw many old avalanches and a few recent wet avalanches.