Gunnison
AvalancheCBAC Staff · Jan 2, 2025 · Gunnison
Weather
Light snowfall in the morning with clearing skies by 4pm. About 6 inches of new snow - mostly graupel and heavily rimed particles. Winds at the summit of Axtel were light in the early afternoon with little evidence of drifting over the past 12 hours.
Snowpack
The primary goal was traveling near steeper southerly facing terrain near and below treeline. We experienced signs of instability with a few large collapses near steep, drifted southeast slopes without cracking or avalanching. We dug a test profile on a southeast slope at 10,800 feet with propagating results below the 12/29 melt/freeze crust and above the 12/22 melt/freeze crust (the crust below the Christmas Slab). The result on the upper crust was less worrisome as it seemed unlikely to be a problem in sheltered areas. Still, the lower failure was the first propagating result on a sunny slope since the storminess returned over a week ago. (see image) We did not investigate the crowns of the remotely triggered avalanches in 6th Bowl but depths and structure appeared to match recent avalanche activity on north and east slopes. The slab continues to settle and gain strength allowing collapses to travel long distances.
Avalanche
Remotely triggered avalanches on northeast and east features near the summit of Axtel and one older avalanche from earlier this week in the Anthracite Range.