Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 01/16/2020
Name: Joey Carpenter
Subject: AM Coneys
Aspect: North, North East
Elevation: 9600-10900
Avalanches: Lots of old crowns. There was some freshish looking debris at the bottom of one of the W Gothic shots, but I couldn’t see a crown from where I was.
Weather: When I got in my car, it was -6. By the time I left the TH (7:15a), it had warmed up to -4 and all my fingers hurt. Lenticular clouds hung out above visible peaks, otherwise sky was pretty clear. Thin stratus cloud cover increased as I worked towards Coneys. By the time I was through the meadows and into the trees on the ascent, only my thumbs hurt, so it must’ve been closer to single digits. After I navigated the 3, yes…3 different criss crossing, braiding, winding ascent tracks going up to the ridge (it’s possible I even skinned downhill for a bit, it was confusing, I got lost), it felt closer to double digits because my hands didn’t hurt anymore. When I was back at the car, it had made its way up to 16, so that was nice. Winds were calm the whole time.
Snowpack: Small/med sized surface hoar (3-4mm est) in the classic areas of development in that zone. The open pitches at the bottom of the climb, a couple open spots on the ascent, and along the tree fences on the N side lap track. Recent winds have ravaged alpine and even NTL zones. The W face of Gothic looks like Aetna usually does with the windward features bare and leeward ones packed with snow.