Aspen
AvalancheBrandon Levy Matt Huber · Jan 5, 2019 · Aspen
Weather
Sunny and warm(upper 20's) for the entire trip. No visible snow being transported at ridge lines.
Snowpack
The snowpack in this location was generally around one meter deep. Where the Christmas slab is still intact, it is supportive of skis but boot penetration is to the ground. Where the Christmas slab is not as stiff or pronounced, the snowpack has lost almost all structure and ski penetration is into the base depth hoar layers. A thin layer of stiff windslab/board had developed, likely from last nights winds, producing an easy compression test score in our first pit of two in similar locations. CTE 6 SC ECTP22 at 65 cm
Avalanche
From the Independence Lake trailhead we notice two separate crowns, one was a recent shallow'hard slab that released near a rock outcropping mid-slope, east facing 11,650', likely from the end of the New Years storms. The other seemed to have been during the Christmas storms, debris was covered and barely visible but a deeper crown at ridgeline on an east facing slope at 12,000'. And on queue, Brandon spotted and observed a slow moving loose dry avalanche on the same slope, new snow only