Aspen

Avalanche

Jared Berman · Mar 3, 2022 · Aspen

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Weather

Very warm temperatures in the 40's at 11,000'. Light winds from SW. Few clouds.

Snowpack

E-SE aspects became wet and unsupportive by afternoon. This was especially apparent below treeline where pinwheels and loose wet was easy to trigger. On N-NE aspects, slopes remained relatively dry. A test pit on a NE aspect at 10,500' reveleaded 20" of 4F snow resting above a 1cm layer of small grained facets. An extended column test produced no results (ECTX).

Avalanche

A wet slab avalanche was unintentionally triggered below treeline on a steep east facing aspect. Crown averaged 24". Wet Loose avalanches were easy to trigger below treeline on east facing terrain.