Gunnison

Avalanche

Crested Butte Avalanche Center · Jan 11, 2016 · Gunnison

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Weather

Weather: Cold, sunny, mostly blue skies, windy on the ridgelines and summits

Snowpack

Snowpack: Snow was variable, breaking trail it felt supportive until higher elevation, that's when we got our warning

Avalanche

Avalanches: Small skier triggered windslab avalanche on Ruby at approx. 12,000 ft. on a 35+ degree, SSE slope. Slide broke near rocks during our initial bootpack approach and propagated approx. 25 ft. with an eventual path approx. 60 ft. wide and 90 ft. long. Fast moving bed interface, some slabs were 6-8" thick. Skier was caught but not carried or buried.