Gunnison
Quick reportBrie Yost, Evan Ross · Feb 19, 2026 · Gunnison
Weather
Cold and breezy, evidence of wind stiffened new snow in exposed areas. Short periods of visibility, the first since the beginning of the storm. Moderate wind-loading occurring along Scarps Ridge, Mt Emmons and probably up higher on Mt Axtell. cloud cover: broken; wind loading: moderate; snow avail for transport: moderate amounts
Snowpack
As we gained elevation and the ridgeline, the snow surface became more wind-affected, and in these places ski-pen was much shallower. On one wind-eroded ridge line, the new snow depth was about 30cm. Slabs were much thicker in fetches on the ridgetop, and in east-facing terrain, similar to the terrain in Evan's Basin, which was reactive yesterday, we were unable to affect the weak layers from the ridge as we jumped, plunged, and walked by with only a few isolated collapses and cracking off our skis in the new snow. Snowpack was much quieter than yesterday. Had to work for a few small collapses along the ridge of 1st and 2nd bowls, then triggered a large avalanche in the eraser.
Avalanche
Less reactive conditions were observed today as compared to yesterday. We remotely triggered a large avalanche on a N facing slope at 11,600ft that propagated widely across the terrain feature at a thinner, more wind-eroded part of the slab. The crown was 45 cm deep where we triggered, and looked deeper in spots; the avalanche initially broke on 1-2mm facets at the 02/11 interface and in some very steep and rocky places, entrained early-season facets near the ground.