Aspen
AvalancheAnonymous · Apr 4, 2018 · Aspen
Weather
Sunny and warm during the day. Snowed the night of 4/2/18. Sky was clear and temps might have been below freezing night of 4/3/18.
Snowpack
Evening of 4/2/2018 delivered 4 fresh inches of snow. I believe this insulated the entire snowpack and prevented a refreeze overnight. I dug a small hand pit 80 cm snow base 10,400 ft. NE facing. top 4 inches are new on-top of a 3 inch melt freeze sort of crust. Below that is slush to the ground. Rocks were wet at ground. Snowpack is saturated. The cracks from our whumps were on both SW and NE facing slopes. Both cracks went through the melt-freeze and into the slush layer not just through the new snow. These were remote triggered not at our feet!
Avalanche
Evening of 4/2/18 I post-holed through the snow to my waist after dusk, and then it began snowing. Morning of 4/3/2018 loose activity was observed on all aspects above tree line. Loose avalanches (likely the new snow) starting below cliff bands, within couloirs, and in open bowls. Around 9:00 am as we walked out into a open meadow the snowpack collapsed: loud whumps and cracks. As the day progressed and warming occurred wet slab avalanches ripped above and at tree line to the ground. After turning around we decided to hang out and explore low angle terrain around the hut. We were able to trigger two more whumps. At 10:00 pm last night 4/3/18 I was still punching through the snowpack to my waist.