Field Report
Gunnison - CO
Report Information
A took a quick snowmobile tour to investigate recent avalanche activity and track meltwater on northerly slopes at upper elevations— the few remaining places to transition to a spring-like snowpack. I found meltwater has passed through the entire snowpack on a northeast slope at 11,600 feet and the snowpack lost 1.5 feet of depth since my last visit on 4/9. Loose avalanches seem possible in steep rocky areas or northerly slopes at upper elevations during peak daytime heating. Small dry slabs could be possible above 12,000 feet on due-north slopes, or a rogue cornice fall could trigger a deeper avalanche on isolated terrain on a warm day. Otherwise, low danger seems appropriate.
Original CBAC ob: https://cbavalanchecenter.org/view-observations/#/view/observations/15ee299c-3bc9-43cc-87c2-720e512facef
Washington Gulch
Snowmobile ride out Washington Gulch to the Top of the World.
Avalanches
A handful of recent Loose avalanches at upper elevations on northerly slopes. Most appear to be Wet Loose from the past day or two. All remained small in size.
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Date | # | Elev | Asp | Type | Trig | SizeR | SizeD | Problem Type | Location |
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04/25/2025
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5 | TL | N | WL | N | R1 | D1 | Loose Wet |
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Date and Time
04/25/2025 -
12:00pm
(estimated)
Location
38.975
-107.04
Start Zone Elevation
11,400 ft
Avalanche Comments
A few Wet Loose avalanches. The failure date is a best guess. |
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04/21/2025
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4 | >TL | NE | N | R1 | D1 |
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Date and Time
04/21/2025 -
12:00pm
(estimated)
Location
38.975
-107.04
Start Zone Elevation
12,100 ft
Avalanche Comments
Uncertain if these were Dry or Wet Loose avalanches. Not present on Saturday 4,19. |
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Multiple Avalanches
Snowpack
I dug a single profile on a northeast-facing slope at 11,600 feet (adjacent to a profile I dug on 4/9) to investigate meltwater infiltration into the snowpack on northerly slopes at upper elevations. This location had meltwater reach the basal weak layers sometime in the past few days (see image). Multiple spots in the snowpack had pooled water with ice lenses, and meltwater was oozing into basal weak layers. Basal weak layers are well-rounded and moist, but still show a notable hardness change. Wet Slabs issue seems very unlikely at this elevation band at this point, given that meltwater reached weak snow near the ground, but I wouldn't completely rule it out. Melt grains at the surface of northerly terrain are large and easily drain water into the snowpack, so Wet Loose avalanche issues seem possible but not particularly problematic, and would likely remain small in size during peak heating.
A handful of recent small Wet Loose avalanches on northerly slopes near and above treeline. I suspect these have been running since Wednesday, 3/23, but I'm uncertain of the exact day.
Weather
Warm temperatures with partly cloudy skies. Light to calm winds at my near treeline location. cloud cover: scattered; wind loading: none; recent snowfall (cm): 0; snow avail for transport: none