Gunnison

A meager snowpack and lack of recent snowfall have conspired to make avalanche conditions generally safe.  Any lingering instabilities will be relatively small and are most likely to be found on a high elevation, previously wind drifted slope.  As the danger continues to trend downward, keep your travel protocols and group communication sound to guard against surprises.  

During the late springtime, we commonly see the avalanche danger decrease to Low as the snowpack becomes homogeneously strong.  Right now, and for the remainder of our dry spell, we will see the snowpack become increasingly stable as it transitions towards a homogeneously weak structure.  Slabs will continue to decay and weak layers will conform or adjust to their surrounding stratigraphy.  In the short term, this is good news: you can feel confident traveling through steep terrain knowing that fewer and fewer slopes are capable of producing a slab avalanche.  In the long term, it's bad news.  With each passing day of dry weather, our current snowpack is evolving into a more fragile weak layer that will likely cause issues for months to come whenever winter shows up.      

With almost a week of stagnant weather ahead of us, our travel advice will remain fairly consistent.  Apart from hazards posed by early-season obstacles like rocks and stumps, it is an appropriate time to travel in steep avalanche terrain.  Use caution around previously wind-drifted terrain in case you find one of the rare exceptions to a generally stable snowpack.   These exceptions might look like this poor structure from near Taylor Pass or this skier-triggered slide yesterday in the San Juans.   Keep your guard up by ascending and descending suspect slopes one at a time. Ride them with an awareness of terrain consequences and a planned escape route.   Pull the plug if you see unexpected signs of instability like cracking or collapsing.  Carry all of your rescue gear.   Communicate concerns and safe zones to your partners.  And when you get back to your house, drum up your best version of a snow dance or Ullr sacrifice so that the storm track shifts favorably towards CB!