Gunnison

Snowpack

On the northern half of the compass, the snowpack is faceted and weak throughout: Fist hard 1.5-2mm facets with ski pen close to the ground and shallow facet sluffing in steep, windsheltered terrain. The snowpack gets a bit denser and stronger in windrifted areas. East aspects are the transition from all weak facets on NE to supportive crusts and wet snow on SE. I found a mix of dry, faceted snow, moist facets, and surface crusts of varying thickness on east aspects. Dirt is emerging on low-elevation east aspects, and southerly aspects are mostly bare except for some high-elevation bowls. Snow depths where I traveled were typically less than 30cm.