Aspen

Avalanche

Bob Perlmutter · Feb 27, 2020 · Aspen

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Avalanche

See attached image. While guiding mechanized skiing in an adjacent low angle zone, we observed a slab avalanche at approx. 11am. Looking closer there were two ski tracks from a touring party(never seen) leading towards the crown of the slide path. We moved to an observation point and saw ski tracks traversing hard skiers left above and away from the slide path. We confirmed two ski tracks descending next to old tracks from a touring party a few days prior and continuing out below the slide debris. This past Mon. saw a very significant wind event in the Aspen area combined with snowfall over a multiple period of days. It appears the two skiers approaching the rim of the bowl caused a sympathetic release of what I surmise was a storm slab with an approx. 12” crown. Also, two days ago, members of the touring party reported a noticeable settlement while skinning back up from their run and retreated from the bowl.