Aspen

Avalanche

Clay Malott · Feb 15, 2021 · Aspen

Weather

Partly cloudy throughout the day. Temperatures between 5 and 15 degrees F.

Snowpack

Dug two snowpits, one on a south facing slope, the other on a northeast slope (see attached SnowPilot diagrams). Very encouraging results on the southern slope. CTN, basal facets were unreactive due to insulation by deep, potentially wind loaded snowpack. The wind blew and loaded significant snow onto the face where our snowpit was dug, meaning facet layer may be easier to trigger in areas where the snowpack is less shallow. There were no other obvious weak layers in the snowpack. The north facing slope was more discouraging. CT22 result on new storm snow (weak interface with denser slab underneath). CT24 result on faceted layer below consolidated ~60cm slab. Energy from the storm slab could definitely step down through the snowpack and trigger a persistent slab.

Avalanche

Two avalanches visible on northeast facing slopes. We avoided checking them out, as we would have had to cross underneath avalanche terrain to get there. Both images attached below.