Gunnison

Avalanche

Zack Guy · Jan 10, 2024 · Gunnison

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Weather

Observed ongoing windloading in the alpine, though winds were mellowing out compared to last night's drifting. Light snowfall with less than a few cm's during our travels. Snowfall rates ramped up around sunset.

Snowpack

Found sounds of instability on our January PWL on SW, W, NE, E, SE aspects near or below treeline. Didn't travel on N or NW. Nothing notable on S BTL.

Avalanche

In the Upper Slate, there were several natural avalanches, both on windloaded slopes ATL (up to D2), and a few small slabs (D1) in relatively sheltered terrain BTL. We remotely triggered numerous small slab avalanches as well; most were cross-drifted slabs on exposed below treeline slopes, a few were in relatively protected terrain. All of these avalanches appeared to break on our early January PWL: facets or faceted crusts. Decent visibility of below treeline terrain, and the only activity observed down-valley from Pittsburg was a narrow soft slab in Happy Chutes. Limited vis of alpine terrain.