Aspen
AvalancheBrian Lazar · Jan 12, 2020 · Aspen
Weather
Partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies. Cold, temps in the teens with moderate west to southwest winds.
Snowpack
Snowpack is relatively thin in this area. Around 80cm on south-facing terrain with multiple crust-facet combinations capping large-grained facets at the ground. North and east aspect have 100cm to 120 cm snowpack depth. There is obvious wind affect with patchy hard slabs even in exposed areas near and below treeline. The bottom 30cm is all weak depth hoar. Most concerning at low elevations are sluffs gouging to ground on cold, steep shady terrain, above terrain traps. Slabs are there near treeline but discontinuous across the terrain and you can find traps doors with weak snow to the ground between supportable slabs. You can certainly find wind-drifted areas where you can trigger a slab around 1 to 2 feet thick that would likely step down near the ground. Above treeline looks to have hard slabs plastered into lee slopes and cross-loaded terrain features.
Avalanche
One small wind-slab avalanche in steep cross-loaded couloir feature.