Aspen

Snowpack

Traveled from 8800 ft to 11200 ft on easterly and northerly slopes. Below 10,500 feet the snowpack is less than a meter with ground obstacles just barely covered.--- I dug on northerly slopes between 10,800 and 11,100. I found a snow depth of 130 cm with a strong slab sitting over a generally faceted mid to lower snowpack. Within the upper snowpack slab there was a layer of surface hoar that produced propagating results in extended column tests. The surface hoar was broken apart and mixed with faceted crystals 45 cm from the surface. Below this layer of concern is a softer layer of 1-2 mm facets at 60 cm from the surface. Results in a propagation saw test were 20/100 END. Subtle collapses observed on these northerly slopes.---Easterly slopes were more worrisome as the snowpack at this elevation is a little thinner and weaker. Collapses were much loader and seemed to propagate further. I expected to remotely trigger an avalanche by walking on the ridge but no luck. One small slope spider webbed with cracks but did not slide. I excavated the cracks and found the failure layer to be 60 cm from the surface below a thin melt-freeze crust. The snow depth on east-facing slopes is about 120 cm. Foot penetration to almost to the ground.---Bottom line is the snowpack structure leaves a lot to be desired and I would not be testing steep slopes with the collapsing I observed today. With the 2 foot thick slabs from recent storms on sheltered slopes the instabtility is quite widespread whether wind-loaded or not.