Aspen

Avalanche

Sean Smollen · Jan 24, 2021 · Aspen

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Weather

Obscured sky moved into -OVC by noon. Precip SN-S-1. Calm winds. Air temp -1 degree Celsius @ 9500’ at 12:00. BTL throughout tour.

Snowpack

20-25cm of new snow on top of facets. Southerly aspects had a melt freeze crust with new snow on top. Small sluffs went all day underfoot, but didn’t travel far on slope angles under 35 degrees. HS ranged 65-90cm BTL. New snow is not cohesive enough to propagate failure at this location and elevation.

Avalanche

Loose dry avalanche failed on new snow old snow interface while egressing to buttermilk @9758’. Slope angle was 36 degrees. 2m width of crown, avalanche travelled 7m downslope with a 20-25cm crown. Slope angle of small drainage was absolute maximum where avalanche was triggered, sluffing didn’t travel farther than a meter until slope angle broke 35 degrees. 1-<TL-L-E-ASu-R1-D1