Gunnison

Cooler weather is reducing the threat of wet avalanches.  Stay alert for exceptions on steep slopes where the snowpack is saturated and unable to support your weight.  Meltwater from the weekend heatwave is still draining through the snowpack, and there is an isolated chance you could trigger a wet slab on northerly aspects.    

With over a week of warm weather in the rearview mirror and cooler temperatures today, most wet loose avalanches have run their course.  Once surface crusts thaw today, you might be able to trigger a shallow sluff in very steep or extreme terrain.   We observed limited wet slab activity with this most recent warmup, thanks in part to the late March meltdown, which already saturated many suspect slopes harboring dry, weak layers.  The meltwater faucet was turned down a notch yesterday and shut off with freezing temperatures overnight, further reducing wet slab concerns.  The snowpack hasn't frozen solid or completely established drainage to the ground; thus, we still have isolated concerns for a triggered wet slab, similar to the avalanche that caught and carried a skier over the weekend in Northern Colorado.   

The good news about last week's heatwave and meltwater spreading to even more northerly terrain is that fewer slopes harbor the dry, persistent slab structures that have given us pause in steep, rocky terrain with thin and variable snowpacks.  High, due north terrain is still mostly dry, and we can't completely rule out that issue.  Given the past month's relatively dry and warm weather pattern, these concerns are isolated and either unreactive or quite difficult to trigger.