Gunnison

Avalanche

(Public) Crested Butte Avalanche Center · Feb 26, 2021 · Gunnison

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Weather

Weather: Windy. Steady and swirling winds, mainly out of the W/SW at 10-20 mph all day. Probably was gusting to 30+ at higher elevations based on the flagging we observed off many of the surrounding peaks. Air temp wasn’t as cold as we expected this morning. My car read 18F at TH at around 9am. Apart from the consistent and gusty strong winds, air temp seemed pretty mild for the majority of the day.

Snowpack

Snowpack: Mainly traveled on W/NW BTL and NTL, but also had a quick transition on a southerly aspect NTL. Snowpack depth was relatively uniform. Pole probes went to ground at 110cm-130cm. On the ridgeline, where the wind has stripped the majority of the season’s snowpack, depth was around 30cm. Snow was supportive on all aspects we traveled, with a ski pen of around 3-6.” Once we stepped off our equipment though, boot pen went to ground with full weight. For the most part, the skiing was surfy and supportive. However, variable crusts exist on the sunny aspects and wind-affected terrain, of course.

Avalanche

Avalanches: Everywhere in sight, especially E facing terrain. D1-D2+ on virtually any alpine feature which took on drifting recently, along with some unusual NTL/BTL features which normally wouldn’t be suspect. Most of the recent avalanches we observed today have already been reported, but not all of them. Basically, if you looked below a cornice on a leeward aspect, it went big. Sorry, no pictures.