Gunnison
AvalancheCBAC Staff · Dec 21, 2023 · Gunnison
Weather
CLOUD COVER Scattered TEMPERATURE (F) Mild NEW OR RECENT SNOWFALL (CM) 1 RAIN/SNOW LINE N/A SNOW AVAILABLE FOR TRANSPORT None WIND LOADING None
Snowpack
On southerly aspects, N/BTL: The 1 cm of new snow last night moistened and is bonded well to crusts below about 10,800'. Above that, the new snow was still dry and not adhering well to the crust; could be a storm or wind slab failure layer if it facets tonight and doesn't get cooked tomorrow. Crusts were 3 to 8 cm thick and mostly supportive to skis; it would take a major loading event for them to collapse on the small-grained facets below. On northerly aspects, N/BTL: Snow surfaces are weak and faceting everywhere. The weakest snow is on old bedsurfaces or terrain eroded by northerly winds, where snowdepths are shallow (<50 cm). We found the 12/7 surface hoar layer in tact at 11,300'. Depth hoar grains are 2.5-3 mm, fist hard, and slightly rounded at the base of the snowpack (where it didn't avalanche away during the 12/3 cycle) On east aspects BTL: On the one steep slope we crossed, there was a very thin, collapsible crust over facets on the snow surface.
Avalanche
Triggered a facet sluff in Climax Chutes that entrained the ~16" of faceted snow above the ground. This path ran on December 3rd so the bed surface is shallow and weak. Another group in an adjacent chute triggered a shallower point release.