Aspen

Snowpack

Andrew Gaylord · Jan 5, 2013 · Aspen

View on map

Weather

Clear, cold, light wind.

Snowpack

Snow was very shallow and unsupportable near Ashcroft in north facing glades. As I went up in elevation I was traveling on an unsupportable slab, and I easily broke through to the facets at the base. Some windloaded areas had up to 2.5 feet of slab over facets. Surprisingly I experienced no shooting cracks or collapses on the ascent. West facing ridge where I began my descent was almost completely wind scoured, with only a few centimeters of snow. I descended a low angled lightly gladed area to Cooper creek rd., snow was slightly supportable, but I still broke through the slab in areas. Once on the road, the snow was significantly deeperer and I felt a large collapse with cracks shooting out 40 feet from my skis.