Gunnison

Snowpack

Crested Butte Avalanche Center · Mar 5, 2013 · Gunnison

Weather

Weather: Cool temps under an inversion before 7. No wind until the summit, where it was coming from the north about 5 - 10 mph.

Snowpack

Snow: Dropped into the bowl around 8:45. Saw 2 fellas cutting dropping a cornice and making ski cuts with no results. The ridge was windswept, and other northerlys above treeline on Redwell and Axtel appeared to have some wind affection. Boot/shin deep ski pen sitting on a very supportive crust from top to bottom. Pretty good skiing in the bowl - starting to firm up from the sun's rays closer to the bottom of the run. Avi activity: Human triggered avalanche observed on east facing aspect near treeline (on the 'bench' before the last push). The fracture was on a windloaded slope, and was caused by two previous skiers kicking at cornices. Crown was about a foot deep, and was mostly loose snow. It propagated around rocks and across the ridge about 100 - 150 feet. It was not in typical ski terrain. Observed big wind plumes coming off the summit from the north last night (Monday, the 4th) around 6 PM, but didn't see much evidence of windloading in the the bowl itself.