Aspen
AvalancheMatt Huber · Feb 23, 2019 · Aspen
Weather
The skies began clearing around 10:00 am, clear by noon and then a high thin layer of clouds moved back in from the west.Temperatures never climbed out of the single digits. West northwest winds were visibly blowing snow ridges above treeline.
Snowpack
A very large natural avalanche that ran overnight or this morning (2/23)was observed by the Aspen Mountain Ski Patrol. Observed from about six miles away, the crown is estimated at eight to ten feet deep and about five hundred feet across on the north face of true Hayden peak, 13,000'. On an east- northeast facing slope at 11,000 feet, the total depth of snow was about 150 cm on a protected slope. A small. There was roughly 10-15 centimeters of new snow sitting on a very thin wind crust. Generally, there is a non-reactive buried near surface facet layer at 110 cm from the ground. Another buried near surface facet layer sits below a 3 cm pencil hard layer at about 90 cm from the ground. This was the only layer to produce results, non-propagating hard extended column test, ECTN24
Avalanche
A very large natural avalanche ran sometime overnight between 2/22 and early am 2/23 on a north aspect above treeline. The crown appeared to be between 8-10 feet deep and 500 feet across. Another avalanche was seen in Tonar Bowl on a north aspect above treeline. The crown appeared to be roughly 2 feet deep and limited to recent wind slab only, not braking into deeper layers.