Gunnison

Snowpack

Josh Hirshberg · Feb 23, 2013 · Gunnison

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Weather

Skies were obscured. Calm winds. Average of S1 snowfall w/ some bursts of S2. Cold temps. -10.0°C @ 11:00 at 9,600ft. HST 10cm in valley bottom by 16:00. Low density rimed stellar dendrites.

Snowpack

See profile. HS ranged from 50cm-120cm. HST of 10cm overlying 5cm of older snow, now near surface facets. On shaded aspects the snowpack is becoming more uniformly faceted, while the weakest layers have gained some strength. Though faceting is prevalent, persistent slab structure is becoming less evident. Still maintaining supportiveness while skiing. Ski pen- 25cm. S-SE aspects are mostly faceted w/ prominent crusts at mid-pack and in the upper 25cm. SW-W aspects in open terrain are scoured, shallow (50cm) w/ some recent wind deposited snow on top.