Gunnison

Snowpack

Evan Ross Elise Brizes · Mar 15, 2024 · Gunnison

Weather

At 11,700ft the easterly winds were consistingly blowing at moderate speeds. There wasn't much of any snow left for transport for this wind direction.

Snowpack

The Ruby Range by Irwin was looking blasted, ugh. NE-E-SE-S slopes were mostly blown back to old crusts. You could find isolated cross-loaded pockets or uphill drifts, but those didn't appear to be reactive as a wind slab issue. Given the amount of wind effect, I wouldn't expect notable wet loose avalanche activity in this area until surface crusts are melted through. We climbed up by the Dyke to have a look off the west side. In general, the west side looks like much better snow quality with wind slabs located near the ridgelines and tree fences. The few wind slabs we were able to push on near the ridgeline appeared stubborn, and that actually made them harder to manage. A hot lap on a northerly slope of Mt Axtell between 10,600ft and 9,600ft was normal caution with a little sluffing and nice skiing.