Gunnison
SnowpackCBAC Staff · Dec 31, 2024 · Gunnison
Weather
Partly cloudy with light winds below treeline. Westerly winds increased with moderate gusts as we gained elevation to more exposed locations near treeline. A few snowflakes fell throughout the day.
Snowpack
Below treeline, ~4-6" of new, low-density snow sat atop a widespread rime-crust from Saturday 12/28. Near treeline, recent winds have scoured the most exposed windward terrain features. In these locations, the rime-crust was the snow surface. Protected areas held new snow atop the rime-crust, though less (up to ~4") than below treeline. The rime-crust is generally supportable to skis but not to boots. Minor wind-effect and light transport onto leeward features was observed. Deeper in the snowpack, there is a widespread melt-freeze crust (buried last week). This crust is stronger on true South aspects and grows weaker as one moves towards more Easterly-facing terrain features. Isolated collapses occurred as we ascended, primarily on East-facing terrain features, and some low angled Southerly-facing slopes where crusts were thin due to those low angles.