Gunnison
AvalancheIan Havlick · Feb 14, 2014 · Gunnison
Weather
Broken skies; warm with high temp of 38F at 1400; moderate winds at ridge top. 6cm HN.
Avalanche
AVALANCHE / SNOWPACK OBS: Deep snow even in Spring Creek drainage with multiple avalanches of historic significance. Counted 4 separate slides that came down to the Spring Creek road from unseen start zones above of D2/D2.5 size. Three slides completely crossed the road and plugged Spring Creek. 1 before the ice climb; 1 in the ice climb gully; and the biggest in the drainage after the climb. Debris deposition on road estimated at 10'-20' deep, with lots of small to a few thigh sized trees broken off and embedded in the debris, and three of the slides reaching into and blocking Spring Creek proper. Trail breaking was mid-thingh deep off the road. TERRAIN OBS: Ice climb gully also avalanched impressively with the debris crossing the road and filling in Spring Creek. Snow has pasted to ice even in vertical sections and turned the climb into a slushy/snow mixture once cleaned. All willows and trees in gully below first pitch are gone, and in their place stands 1 lone broken off tree about 30cm in diameter embedded in the ground like a spear from above. See accompanying pics. The anchor at top of second pitch around tree that usually stands 90cm off the ground had to be dug out of avy debris.