Aspen
SnowpackColin Mitchell · Feb 27, 2015 · Aspen
Weather
Intermittent snow, heavy at times, with sun poking out once in a while. Snow showers were convective in nature, with lots of graupel mixed in. Strong winds for this location, varied from SW-W-NW. Poor visibility and a low cloud deck prevented assessing wind loading on adjacent higher terrain, but presumably winds were moving snow ATL in this area.
Snowpack
Snow from the past week totaled 44 cm. 20 cm of new snow, mostly from last night, and last weeks snow, which had settled into a 24 cm thick 4F slab of tiny rounds. Below this is about 15 cm of 4F hard facets formed during our long dry spell, and the 1.11 SH layer. The bottom 78 cm is a P hard slab of rounding facets and depth hoar. Snowpack tests produced mixed results: ECTN12 SC down 44, ECTP13 SC down 44, CT6 SC Q1 down 44, CT8 BRK down 44. Given the recent activity in the zone, and heavy snow in the forecast, the trend is pointing toward rising danger for avalanches in the upper layers of the snowpack. Lower layers have not been reactive in this area in a month or more, and a full depth avalanche is unlikely at this point.