Gunnison

Early in the morning, numerous small Dry Loose avalanches were observed on most aspects at upper elevations. By midday, a few natural loose avalanches began to run on steep rocky terrain features in the sun. On Mount Axtell a few natural slabs were visible in the morning; these avalanches had minimal propagation but were not point releases.

Mostly clear skies. Storm totals varied from 5 inches near Kebler TH to almost a foot on Ruby Peak. Sheltered northerly terrain on AMR held 9 inches. wind loading: previous; recent snowfall (cm): 20; snow avail for transport: moderate amounts

While touring through southerly terrain near treeline, I didn't experience cracking while ascending through drifted terrain features with soft textures up to two feet deep.  Hasty hand shear pits revealed marginal bonding between the new snow and old crusts.  This interface was slightly faceted.  I speculate that this was a product of a moist, not fully frozen crust when the recent snow began to accumulate.  The recent storm snow became moist before noon and created a loose avalanche problem on steep terrain features. On northerly terrain in the Anthracite Range, the new snow remained soft without cohesion.  Small, Dry Loose avalanches were probable on features around 40 degrees.  The storm snow accumulated on a thin layer of facets above last week's friable rain crust.  Not enough snow accumulated to create a slab avalanche problem in sheltered areas. .