Gunnison

Clear skies with a few thin, high clouds. Temperatures felt seasonal with light winds. cloud cover: clear; wind loading: previous; snow avail for transport: none

We toured across a variety of aspects up to 12,200 feet.  The recent winds have taken a toll on the snowpack in this area.  Some suspect aspects and elevations have been heavily eroded, reducing the threat of slab avalanches, while isolated features have been loaded with hard slabs at the surface.  We crossed a handful of hard slabs on small features on sunny and shaded aspects without results, no collapsing or cracking.  The hardness of the slabs makes triggered slides less likely, and some clearly sit above very weak snow. We found dry surface snow on southeast aspects above treeline, and were able to sniff out slopes without erosion or drifting by the recent windy weather.  We were surprised by the quality turns.  Southeast aspects hold faceted grains at/near the surface, which will create poor bonding with an incoming storm. (see images)  The incoming storm will fall on melt/freeze crusts on the sunniest terrain at lower elevations and windboard or facets on west-north-east-southeast aspects elsewhere.