Aspen
AvalancheEvan Ross · Dec 4, 2025 · Aspen
Weather
At 11,100ft. The 12/1 interface was down 20cm in the valley. Some previous winds had moved through that area. Light wind-loading continued through the day. cloud cover: few; wind loading: light; snow avail for transport: moderate amounts
Snowpack
On the NE and E-facing slopes we traveled, below ~11800ft, the old slabs have continued to lose strength. There was just enough strength left to keep ski pen off the ground, but the few collapses or shooting cracks we encountered couldn't travel very far across the terrain feature. Going into the weekend, the weak layer of concern on these slopes will be the large-grain facets in the bottom half of the snowpack. A SE slope at 11,700 had a ~3 cm crust above the November facets, but those facets were sometimes interrupted by the ground, given their thin depth. A 25-degree south-facing slope at 11,700ft had only the new snow that had accumulated since 11/30. The low-density snow that has accumulated this week has proven to be a reactive interface in recent storm and wind-slab avalanche activity. We skied an east-facing bowl from 12,100ft, and on the descent, you could feel your skis punching through the old slab. . The primary sign of instability was from wind-loading during the day, releasing fresh avalanches.
Avalanche
Numerous sluffs and small storm slabs released on 12/3, likely during the afternoon period of high precipitation rates. Many small wind slabs ran today on 12/4, with the light winds easily transporting the fresh low-density snow. Several persistent slabs also ran today.