Aspen
AvalancheWill Scharffenberger · Mar 25, 2022 · Aspen
Weather
Sunny and Warm
Snowpack
The weak layer that broke was approximately 2-3 feet down and had a sugary texture. The snow in the north trees was still relatively cold and powdery, having avoided much of the warming that caused sunny slopes to have sticky powder and shallow sun crusts.
Avalanche
We started skiing down around 1:30pm on March 24 from the top of the north facing bowl directly south of the Markley Hut. The slope we were on was approximately 35 degrees with mostly dense trees with some narrow avalanche paths separating the trees. Our goal was to stay in the relatively dense trees, but as we skied down we had to cross two avi paths. We crossed these carefully, one at a time. After crossing the second avi path, we reconvened in the trees about 25 feet away from the open avi path. Two of our party skied a few turns further and stopped, as the last in our party was about to ski she heard a crack and saw the slope break a few feet above her. We suspect it quickly shot up into the avi path, forming a crown 100 feet higher than our location. The crown was about 2-3 feet tall. The skier that triggered the slide was caught but was able to hold on to a tree about 20 feet below where she was standing and was uninjured. The avalanche moved past her mainly in the avi path and ended with a short run-out at the bottom. No other skiers were caught.