Gunnison

Avalanche

Skied from the summit of Whetstone, mostly skiing east and southeast aspects. Up top, the snow was either punchy wind crusts or barely edgable sun crust. The snow began to get slightly softer at around 11,000 feet. We then skied through some tight trees and found ourselves on top of a thin SE-facing aspect that we had walked up earlier in the day, barely breaking the snow surface. We then noticed the temperature starkly increase and our skis sinking deep into the snow. The first skier in our party got about halfway down the first ~100 foot pitch, which slid behind him. He was able to ski out of the slide path, staying on his feet and avoiding the avalanche altogether. After the snow settled, a second member of our party skied along the top of the ridge above the first slide and triggered a second, smaller avalanche. This was a wet slab with a ~20 cm crown that slid on a snow surface just above ground level. The crown was about 50 feet wide, and the avalanche was about 100 ft long.