Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/04/2019
Name: Evan Ross

Subject: Mountains to the West of CB obs
Aspect: North, East, South, South West
Elevation: BTL/NTL

Avalanches:

During this 3 day period. No avalanches where observed BTL in the Kebler, CB Town, and Washington Cultch areas (not all slopes viewed of course). While the weather was clear on the morning of 3/4, a very large crown could be seen on the Spork of Mt Gothic (observed in other observations). A large avalanche within the new snow was observed above treeline on a south aspect of Mt Baldy. Poor visibility of something on a southerly ATL slope of the White Massive, and poor visibility of something on a NE aspect NTL in the Skyukill area, all failing during 3/3 loading.

Weather: 3/4: Partly cloudy in the morning becoming mostly cloudy in the afternoon. Afternoon weather seemed convective wish short bursts of S2. Maybe 2″ of new snow by the late afternoon. Generally light winds, certainly some drifting at times and probably more at higher elevations.

Snowpack:

3/4: Washington Cultch. No signs to instability. Mostly traveling on slopes up to 200 feet in vertical or smaller and up to the mid 30 degree range with a snowmobile. No shooting cracks or signs to a Storm Slab avalanche problem on shelter terrain and winded loaded terrain. Cut across several larger and steeper slopes with more vertical and no remote triggering or collapses felt. Bomb holed off plenty of cornices. Many different aspects traveld. 2 avalanches Observed above treeline from yesterday, otherwise no avalanches observed at NTL/BTL elevations from this last storm. Visibility cut out in the afternoon and limited alpine observations. HST on a SSW aspect at 11,200ft was 90-95cm.

3/3: Kebler Pass area. Again traveling on smaller terrain with slopes up to 200 feet in vertical and in the mid 30 degree range. All terrain was BTL and in the Kebler Pass or Irwin Area. No Storm Slab or Persistent Slab issues observed in this lower elevation and smaller terrain.

3/2: Snodgrass to Gothic Rd. Large group of skiers traveling on slopes in the mid-30 degree range. Thick heavy new snow. No collapses observed and no storm slab issues found.

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/04/2019
Name: Alex Tiberio

Subject: RMBL Study Plot
Aspect:
Elevation: 9500

Avalanches:

Weather: Clear skies in AM, light snow moving in around 1PM

Snowpack:
Photos:

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 03/03/2019
Name: Irwin Guides

Subject: Irwin Cat Ski Obs
Aspect:
Elevation:

Avalanches:

Thorton’s and Glade: SS-ASc-R1-D1-S. 10-15cm’s Deep, 100′ wide, ran full track.
2-Chutes: SS-AE-R1-D1-S. 10-15cm’s Deep, 50′ wide, ran full track.
Moonrise Right SS-ASc-R2-D1.5-I DF-02/28 (30cm x 20m x 100m) Triggered by a ski cut
Booth SS-ASc-R2-D1.5-S PP (60cm x 15m x 50m) Ski cut in booth bed surface was still 30 cm’s above the 2/28
crust

Weather: PM Weather Sky Sfc MxTp MnTp Temp WDir WSpd Gust Time H2D/W/DEN HN24 HST/W HS
Study Plot OVC PP 26 20 25 177 14 35 0800 14.0/1.60 11.4 17.0 29.0/3.55 98.0
Scarp Ridge Solar: 0 18 14 18 238 29 59 1600 5.0/0.30 6.0 5.0 32.0/3.85 99.0

Weather summary: SNOWING S2 most of the day picking up to S4 around 15:00. Winds Moderate to Strong from WSW
w/ extreme gusts, especially picking up around 15:00. Large Grauppel noted at 16:00

Snowpack: Lower Westwall minimal signs of instability with minor shooting cracks mostly under skis to 10′ in front of skis, some slow to medium speed Loose Dry. Mid Westwall- Thorton’s and Glade, Way Long- shooting cracks up to 100′ and shallow storm Slabs. Long shot SS-AS-I 22″ crown, entire slope and debris ran down to photographers tree island.Collapse in the bottom
of Lean. Upper Westwall, reactive windslabs in Moonrise right on ski cut. Shallow storm slabs in 2-Chutes w/ Double handshots. Deeper Storm slab in Booth and Strike 3 convexity. South Barkmarker Zone, Whiskey/Vodka Shots had minimal to no sign of instability, minor cracking up high in storm snow and a collapse in Vodka. Most of cracking and avalanches were in the new snow at a couple different depths (storm slabs). The Soft Slab in Moonrise was the only activity the 2/28 interface.
Photos:

Location: Cement Creek Area
Date of Observation: 03/03/2019
Name: Eric Murrow

Subject: Lower Cement Creek and down valley avi obs
Aspect: North, North East, East, West, North West
Elevation: 8750′ – 10200′

Avalanches:

Round Mountain D2 W, D2 NW
Whetstone – Claw, D2 NE

Gothic – reports of East facing running in multiple spots with one slide crossing river and hitting a cabin.

Weather: Snowfall S-1 to S2 between 1030 am to 400pm. Accumulations during the day amounted to just over an inch. Winds were light until about 3pm when they picked up and started stripping snow out of the trees. Visibility was obscured most of the day so ID’ing natural avalanches was limited.

Snowpack: Average HS through this NW – N facing terrain was 130cm. HST since 2/28 was 40cm. Bottom 50cm of snowpack is 2-3mm facets F+ hard. The middle of the snowpack was 4f+ hard with 40cm F hard storm snow at the top. Experienced only one moderate-sized collapsed during the day. Two layers of concern are basal facets and a thin layer of facets in the midpack that were 1-1.5mm. Stability test did not produce propagating results but I sure wouldn’t want to be on steep terrain with this structure. Very little cracking within the storm snow.

Photos:

Location: Cement Creek Area
Date of Observation: 03/03/2019
Name: Bryan

Subject: South east of town
Aspect: North, North East
Elevation: 10K

Avalanches:

Roadside deep slabs in cliffs, looking wet.
Round Mountain path looks to have slid naturally, R1 D2.

Weather: Snow

Snowpack: +\- 1 meter total depth. 25cm DH, 40cm 2F, remainder is 4F and Fist.
Photos:

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/04/2019
Name: Scott H

Subject: Small Whetstone natural
Aspect: North East, East
Elevation: BTL

Avalanches:

Ran sometime during the night late Saturday or during the day on Sunday. No obvious trigger. Crown estimated at a foot or so. Runnels close to bed surface. Possible warming from rocks nearby combined with load from new accumulation.

Weather: Light snow. 30F @5pm, high of 34F. Gusts measured at 24mph.

Snowpack: Observed from my living room. There are obvious runnels on the skiers right of the flank.
Photos:

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/03/2019
Name: Steve Banks

Subject: Red Lady Glades
Aspect: South East, South
Elevation: 9200-10,400

Avalanches:

None observed, but we avoided avalanche terrain and visibility was minimal at best.

Weather: S1 to S5 throughout the day. Obscured skies and moderate but gusty westerly winds. Warm temps near freezing. A fair amount of blowing snow was observed on exposed knoll.

Snowpack: 15 cms new snow with storm totals around 60 cms. Deep trail breaking with knee deep ski penetration and hip deep foot penetration. 2 small localized collapses felt when 2 people came together. Isolated and surprisingly little cracking in the new snow 6-20 cms deep.

ECTN 23 down 42 cms
CTM Sudden Planer failure down 42 cms on mid storm density change. No failure on new snow/old snow interface.
Photos:

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/03/2019
Name: AIARE 2

Subject: Coneys Glades
Aspect: North East
Elevation: 9,600-10,300

Avalanches:

NO

Weather: 2-S5 all day ~4in of accumulation with Mod winds from the W, a few strong gusts
Snow falling was mostly PPrm, almost grapple at points
Colder today and snow until 1500 was low density, especially compared to the previous 2 days
Sky – OBS
TAir – 28deg

Snowpack: Pen Ski – avg 30cm
Pen Boot – Crotch (didn’t stop until then, would have gone further)
Snow was deep for sure, and we could feel the denser settled snow from Fri, below the fresher snow from the last 48hrs, breaking through and while stiffening, not supper supportable yet in this area. Localized collapsing
Pits dug at 10300ft on a NE facing aspect in an open meadow BTL- ~150cm depth of pit on avg.
50-70cm of new snow F harness gaining strength near the bottom of the layer
80-100cm of 4F-1F slab that seems to be uniform with a small interface 50-60cm down from the new snow

CT18 Q2 RP Down 55cm
CTN
CTM Q2 RP Down 80cm
ECTN down 35cm
ECTN down 55cm and 95cm
ECTP16 down 80cm (new/old snow interface)
Photos:

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 03/03/2019
Name: Billy Barr

Subject: Gothic 7am Weather Update
Aspect:
Elevation:

Avalanches:

Weather: Obscured with steady moderate to heavy snow with only a slight pause between 1-2 pm yesterday, but also very dense as this whole storm cycle has been. The last 24 hours has 14″ new snow with 1.19″ of water. Total storm so far 31½” of snow with 2.68″ of water, or 8½% water, which in a sustained and large storm is a rarity. Current snowpack is at winters deepest of 81″. Thankfully only light wind with currently moderate snowfall. Temp. stays mild with the morning low of 22F the coolest in 4 days.

Snowpack:
Photos:

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/02/2019
Name: AIARE 2

Subject: Red Lady Glades
Aspect: South East
Elevation: 11,200ft

Avalanches:

NO

Weather: Sky – OVC becoming OBS after 1400
Wind – Light out of the WSW
Precip – S-1 in the morning, S2 after 1400, PPrm. S5 after 1500, lots of moisture
-2.6C at 11,200 at 1400 (moderate, close to feeding temps all day)
2-3in of new snow observed

Snowpack: HS-245cm
HST – 40cm
TAir – -2.6C
TSurf – -1.6C
T20 – 3.4C
140cm down (bottom of pit) -3.9C
0cm (Surf)-40cm – F, DF and a small amount of GRpl 3mm
40cm-45cm – 4F MFcr , CT19/M Q1 SP, ECTN
45cm-55cm – 1F RG .5mm
55-cm-70cm – 1F RG .5mm
70-72cm – MFcr CT29/H Q2 SP
72-100 – P, RG – .3mm
100-140cm – P, RG .3mmnow density decreased as we climbed in elevation
Evidence of settlement BTL, snow cones around trees
~14in of new snow over the last 24hrs on average in this terrain
Photos: