Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/10/2020
Subject: Surprise
Aspect: North, East
Elevation: ATL, BTL

Avalanches: None seen, some small surface sluffs on SE aspect that didn’t go far

Weather: Broken, was snowing pretty good when we left around noon.

Snowpack: I’d call it 12-14 new total in some spots, light with some minor sluffing from turns in steeper terrain.

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 01/10/2020
Name: Evan Ross
Subject: Incremental Loading And Human Triggered Avalanches
Aspect: North, East, South
Elevation: 9,000-11,300

Avalanches: Human triggered two Persistent Slab Avalanches, failing on facets near the middle of the snowpack, on easterly to northeasterly aspects. Both of the slopes that these small avalanches failed on, had avalanched previously this winter and are now just starting to build soft slabs again above the weak layer. 2xSS-AM-R1-D1-O.

Weather: Mostly Cloudy to Obscured. An orographic cloud kept moving in and out, while areas closer to Crested Butte looked to have fewer clouds. Calm Winds. Mostly S-1.

Snowpack: No obvious signs to instability through most of the terrain traveled. The exception was on slopes with a well below average total snowpack height and a considerably weaker snowpack. I’d estimate that these slopes previously avalanched around Mid-December, leaving them shallow and further weakening through the Mid-December dry spell. The soft slab above consisted of the late December and/or January snow. Recent storm totals were around 7-8″ in this area.

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 01/09/2020
Name: Elias G
Subject: Lap on the Grass
Aspect: North, North East, East, South East
Elevation: 9600′ – 11,000′

Avalanches: Old crown lines that are filling back in, D .5-1 on convexities/rollovers, N facing BTL terrain.

Weather: Overcast and a bit obscured all day, S-1, calm with temps. in mid teens.

Snowpack: 1″ new snow overnight. Crust on E/SE aspects BTL, now under an 1″ of new (slick w/ new snow), ~ 1-2cm thick perhaps slightly thicker in more open terrain, was supportable to ski in spots but punchy to boot pen. Small size loose dry avalanching on steeper northerly slopes, not enough to bury a person but can run a good distance down slope.
Still fun and surfy out there!

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 01/08/2020
Name: Evan Ross
Subject: Check On West
Aspect: West, North West
Elevation: 10,500ft-11,800ft

Weather: Overcast through most of the day, becoming partly cloudy in the late afternoon. Calm winds increased southwest in the late afternoon with snow plums off the high peaks. A few facets were blowing around in my area but there wasn’t much snow left to transport.

Snowpack: A concerning snowpack definitely exists on westerly slopes, but this setup is more isolated in the terrain when looking big picture and not as pronounced as some other aspects. The goal was to check snowpack structure and get more details about the concerning snowpack structure on west, but I couldn’t find a representable snowpack that was also in a safe location. Gully type terrain features near treeline are where the most concerning slab/weak layer characteristics existed in the terrain. Otherwise, snowpack structure was highly variable from all the past wind events and less concerning.

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/08/2020
Subject: hoar, suncrusts, pow
Aspect: North, North East, East, South East, South
Elevation: 9200-11400

Avalanches: no new observed

Weather: chilly and blustery throughout the day

Snowpack: suncrust on southerlies was almost stout enough to support a skier at some points, but just soft enough to always break through and make for some creative turning. Growing surface hoar widely present north facing down low until maybe 10,500 or so, see blurry photo. Toured and skied north facing snow in the playground area and observed no signs of instability, with conditions ranging from supportive pow to wind stiffened pow to breaker windslab.

Photos:

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 01/08/2020
Name: Joey Carpenter
Subject: PM Skook
Aspect: North, North East, East
Elevation: 9k-11.4k

Avalanches: One loose dry slough triggered from the ridge that had decent momentum and ran ~600 feet. Collected a good amount of snow, passed through trees & over a small rock band. Certainly enough to carry someone but not enough to bury them. R1D1.5

Weather: Wx couldn’t decide what it wanted to do this afternoon with the incoming storm. Started OVC/cool/calm, shifted to clear/calm, then BKN/20mph W wind, back to BKN/CALM, back to OVC/20MPH SW wind.

Snowpack: There was Moderate flagging as the wind was coming from the west. Some small stiff pockets as we traversed the ridge but protected areas remained creamy and generally unconsolidated/weak in the upper 25~35cm (est). Didn’t dig but pole probes could feel the firmer snow beneath the xmas and new years storms.

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/08/2020
Name: Ian Havlick
Subject: Ruby Range Obs
Aspect: East, South East, South, South West, West
Elevation: 10-12,000ft

Avalanches: none.

Weather: Overcast skies in AM, then scattered skies with big jump in wind, late in day clouds redeveloped to overcast. West winds increased with gusts into the 60s this afternoon. Significant transport all elevations, thin windslabs developing late in day, but largely more distribution and sublimation than slab building.

Snowpack: no signs of instability, no crust formation, surface snow continues to facet. Recent bump in wind (re)moving any loose snow from all elevations