Aspen

Avalanche

Brian Lazar · Feb 12, 2021 · Aspen

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Weather

Windy with constant snowfall between 8am and 2pm ranging from S1-S3. Lots of blowing snow. Snow reportedly started around 5am, and there was around 4 inches new at the quarry road by around 10AM. Above 11,000ft there was 8 inches of accumulation by noon.

Snowpack

The 12 inches of storm snow from Tuesday-Wednesday is now being capped with 6-10 inches of new snow. The new snow has lots of graupel in it. Lots of drifting, and new slab formation apparent in open areas even below treeline. Did not get up high due to gnarly conditions but imagine natural wind-slab avalanches are close to running. Even in sheltered areas the recent storm snow was settled enough to start cracking around your skis. Many paths that ran in last cycle (widespread activity) are quickly getting reloaded and can easily run again.

Avalanche

No new observed but very limited visibility.