Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 01/06/2020
Name: Zach Kinler and Eric Murrow
Subject: Quick lap out Poverty Gulch
Aspect: East, South East
Elevation: 8900′ – 10750′
Avalanches: Observed a couple small wet loose avalanches on steep SSW facing slopes at 9700′, 4x – D1. I would guess that these loosies were a day or two old. Could see some debris that came out of a NE facing chute on Cascade. This debris looked to be blown over by the wind so more like 3 or 4 days old, D1. Also noticed some small dry loose skier triggerd slides on a very steep, NE facing feature near the exit of Wolverine Basin by Gun Sight Pass Road around 9600′, D1.
Weather: From 10am to 2pm, the area we traveled through was mostly cloudy with a cloud bank flowing over the Ruby Range with very light snow. Areas closer to Crested Butte looked to have a mostly sunny day. New snow accumulations were just a dusting with gusty winds out of the west.
Snowpack: Traveled through open E and SE facing terrain. HS for E slopes below treeline around 130cm. Dug a quick hole on a drifted SE feature at 10750′ to look at a location that has a slab resting on top of the mid-December sun crust. At this drifted site there was 50cm of snow resting on top of 12/24 crust, up to 1f hard. The crust was 3cm thick on this 30 degree slope. ECTX for this crust slab combination. There was light faceting above and below the crust but not dramatic. Hammering on slab after standard test produced a failure above the crust. Snow surfaces below treeline on SE, S, and SW had a thin, around 1cm, weak crust at the surface from warming two days ago.
We stomped on a handful of very small drifted SE and E test slopes in the area without result.