Gunnison

The avalanche danger is LOW.  The snowpack has matured through numerous freeze-thaw cycles and is generally safe.  If you are riding in extreme terrain, be cautious of small wet sluffs after the snow surface becomes mushy.   Continue to give cornices a wide berth on ridgelines.  

Following a dramatic wet cycle last weekend, the snowpack has been quiet over the last week.  A handful of very small wet loose avalanches were skier triggered yesterday: not enough to cause harm unless they were to knock you off your feet in extreme terrain.    Our snowpack continues to see good refreezes each night, and the snow surface continues to mature and become more resilient to daily surface thawing.   If we see the high end of snowfall forecasts, we'll see the danger start to increase on Tuesday night.  Until then, it's open season out there with minimal avalanche concerns.  Stay alert for small wet sluffs if you are riding in very steep, high consequence terrain.  

Continue to give cornices their due caution.  Cornice falls have been the culprit of several large avalanches over the past few weeks.  Cooler temperatures have diminished the threat of cornice falls compared to a week ago, but there is an element of randomness to these overhangs trundling downslope.  Check out this observation from yesterday of a sagging cornice on Mt. Emmons.   

Our final Virtual Fireside Chat of the season is this Tuesday.  Dr. Erich Peitzsch, with the U.S.G.S., will be joining us from Glacier National Park, where he has been conducting research on wet avalanches, using drones to study the snowpack, avalanche fatality trends in the U.S., and more.  Join us at 7 p.m. tomorrow night at this link: https://zoom.us/j/94179033141