Aspen
SnowpackBrian Lazar · Apr 23, 2021 · Aspen
Weather
Strong west to southwest winds 10-20mpg gusting to 30s. Lots of blowing snow at ridgetop. Skies were mostly overcast to obscured, with occasional periods of zero visibility and vertigo conditions in the alpine. Felt cold and wintery up high.
Snowpack
Highly variable. Average snow depth is around 150cm but average is somewhat meaningless here with depths from bare ground to around 2 meters in drifted areas. There was around 5 inches of new snow overnight, and squalls produced periods of heavy snow today adding maybe 2-4 inches more. New snow has drifted into soft slabs 8 to 12 inches thick, with cracking confined to right around my skis. Small fresh cornices have built along ridgelines. New wind-drifted slabs sit on stack of crusts and associated small facets, with a pronounced dust layer down around 30cm. The upper-most crust is 10-15cm thick and stout; even hard to shovel through. The rest of snowpack is rounded hard layers with intermittent crusts and rounding facets near the ground.