Avalanche forecast

Gunnison

Crested Butte Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Enjoy a great weekend for traveling in the mountains.  The snowpack has matured through numerous freeze-thaw cycles and is generally safe.  Wet instabilities could develop this afternoon, particularly on steep, low elevation terrain.   You can further reduce your risk by traveling earlier in the day and monitoring the snow surface for signs of wet sluffing.  

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    The threat of wet sluffs will increase through the day on steep terrain at lower elevations.  Be careful above cliff bands, trees, and gullies, where a small avalanche can push you into trouble.  You can identify instabilities if you see rollerballs, pinwheels, or small sluffs gathering volume below your skis or machine.  Move to a shadier aspect or less consequential terrain to avoid the problem.  

    A small wet loose avalanche from last weekend. An avalanche like this could cause harm if it pushes you into a terrain trap like a gulley or trees.

Avalanche Discussion

Following a dramatic wet cycle last weekend, the snowpack has been quiet over the last few days, with no human-triggered or natural avalanches reported.  We are seeing better refreezes now, and the snow surface has matured and become more resilient to the diurnal melt-freeze cycles.  That generally stable trajectory looks to continue until we (hopefully) get new snow on Tuesday into Wednesday.  Today, we re-listed wet loose avalanches as a potential problem to monitor for below treeline this afternoon.  Some below treeline locations saw a mediocre refreeze last night, and thus, surface thawing will advance faster under today's sunny weather.  I suspect if wet loose instabilities develop, they will be on the northern half of the compass, where the snow surface hasn't seen as many melt-freeze cycles. This may not be enough to raise the hazard, but it's worth paying attention to if you are traveling high consequence terrain later in the day.  

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 last weekend, but there is an element of randomness to these overhangs trundling downslope.  

Regions covered