Gunnison

Avalanche

Ben Pritchett · Apr 24, 2019 · Gunnison

Weather

Mostly cloudy to overcast day, with steady northwest breeze and warm temps. A few degrees cooler and a shorter peak in heat than yesterday (Tuesday). About 7-10 degrees cooler than the end of last week's heat wave.

Snowpack

Went to check wetting at 3-5pm window to capture the day's peak. Surfaces became cohesion-less down 2-4 inches deep on all aspects below treeline. Boot penetration generally stayed less than 10cm, except in shallow areas. Loose Wet avalanche threat was confined to only a few inches surface snow at most. In shallow areas with less than about 70cm, the frozen slab thawed to the point that it would collapse easily, with boot pen to ground. In deeper areas (>~80-200+cm), the frozen slab was much thicker and remained consistently supportive above the wetted old depth hoar and facets below.

Avalanche

Saw a couple fresh D1 sluff's on Mt. Emmons, both triggered by very small cornice falls.