Gunnison
Quick reportEvan Ross & Eric Murrow · Jan 2, 2026 · Gunnison
Weather
Moderate to heavy snowfall in the morning. A partly cloudy sky moved in around 11am. Mostly light wind at these elevations. Storm totals were similar to last week's storm, but with more water. cloud cover: broken; wind loading: light; recent snowfall (cm): 20 to 30
Snowpack
The snowpack started to make some noise as we gained elevation above ~10,400, and the Christmas Crust thinned on NE-facing slopes. At 10,600ft, the HS was 125 on a NE-facing slope. 36hr storm totals were 25 to 30cm of heavy, thick snow. An ECT at this location produced a moderate propagating result below the Xmas crust, failing in 1mm-1.5mm rounding faceted grains that were 4F-. At lower elevations, the snowpack remained quiet, and the storm interface was the primary layer of concern. This snowpack was deeper than other areas down valley, and comparatively, the weak layers were not as weak, and the thicker slabs made persistent slab avalanche problems feel more stubborn. We traveled on lower-angle ridges and didn't enter steep northeasterly facing avalanche terrain. . Collapses occurred occasionally with heavy jumps or after several people crossed the slope.
Avalanche
Many slopes below 10,800ft produced roller balls on E-S-W facing aspects around 11am. A small storm slab also released naturally around the same time on an easterly facing slope at 10,400ft.