Gunnison

Avalanche

Ben Pritchett · Apr 29, 2024 · Gunnison

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Weather

Fog burned off around 10AM. Brief sunshine kicked off a few very tiny roller balls, before clouds, wind, and light mixed precipitation crusted the snow surfaces.

Snowpack

Mature spring snowpack, with a still-transitioning snow surface. Below treeline the recent snow above the brown layer is 1-3" deep. Near treeline the recent white snow is about 6" above the brown layer. Needs a warm day and plenty of sunshine to rekindle good corn snow conditions. Snowpack tests produced no results. Water has drained through the entire snowpack, with moist depth hoar grains near the ground.

Avalanche

All moving snow was confined to the upper 2-3" of the snowpack, below about 10,000 feet. I could only push white wet snow on slopes steeper than about 40 degrees.