Gunnison

The odds of triggering an avalanche continue to gradually decrease under our current dry spell.  Following a widespread avalanche cycle last week, some slopes still have the ingredients for an ugly surprise:  be cautious where you find cohesive slabs over faceted weak layers on west, north, east, and high southeast aspects.   The safest travel options for steep terrain are on south-facing terrain or on avalanche paths that clearly ran last week. The low angle is riding fast and fun right now as well!  

A snowpack healing from large loads on persistent weak layers takes time, and our travel advice remains largely the same today.  Yesterday, we used the analogy of old land mines left over from a war zone.  With each day of dry and mild weather, there are fewer land mines holding a charge, but unfortunately, those lingering land mines are often difficult or even impossible to identify.  In steep terrain, you can hedge your bets against surprises by traveling on slopes without a weak layer (south to southwest facing and low elevation southeast) or on slopes without a slab (paths that flushed during the storm).  This video from Mt. Axtell yesterday describes the situation on bed surfaces.   We're also seeing slabs starting to decay at lower elevations due to the strong inversions faceting away at those softer slabs. We've moved the bottom of the size slider down a notch to account for both decreasing propagation and less entrainment compared to last week.  Similar changes are slower to occur at higher elevations where slabs are thicker, denser, and diurnal temperature swings haven't been as large.  On those slopes, our buried weak layers are gradually gaining strength, but there is always weak layer variability from slope to slope.  

Of course, the safer steep options we've outlined have less desirable riding conditions in some areas: southerlies have surface crusts and bed surfaces often have thinner, rockier coverage.  The good news is that low-angle slopes are riding great: fast, soft, and through tinkly surface hoar (fun now, a bummer once it gets buried).   If you are stepping out into terrain where the land mines might be hiding (slabs are still intact over old facet layers), practice smart travel habits and consider terrain consequences.  Smaller terrain features with clean runouts away from gullies and trees are additional strategies to reduce your risk.  

Events: Avalanche Awareness Night is at the Center for the Arts this Saturday. Doors open at 6, show starts at 7. We will have presentations for the first half and live music for the second half of the night. The Beacon Brush Up is then behind the Crested Butte Community School on Sunday from 9 a.m.- 2 p.m.  Details are here.