Aspen
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek · Dec 27, 2021 · Aspen
Weather
Ashcroft trailhead at 10:00 AM was 22F, S1 precipitation, and Moderate southerly winds. The snowfall steadily increase maxing out at S2 to S3 with steady Moderate southerly winds and Strong gusts throughout the day. The temperature stayed around 20F and was 21F by 3:30 back at the trailhead.
Snowpack
All snowpack observations were below treeline. On northwest and west-facing slopes I triggered shooting cracks/collapsing with almost every step onto a new slope. Cracks typically propagated 20-40 feet and occasionally over 100 ft. and failed on well-developed facets/depth hoar. On southwest and south-facing slopes I still triggered shooting cracks/collapsing but not as easily and cracks did not travel as far. These snowpack failures occurred on a mix of well-developed facets and crusts at the bottom of the snowpack. Wind-loaded terrain features often had an HS greater than 1.5m and a ski pen of 15-20cm. By the end of the day I noticed two slopes that had collapses naturally in the previous couple hours and slid a few feet downslope, both on northwest aspects.
Avalanche
I noticed a number of natural avalanches that likely occurred on December 24 or 25. I also triggered a small avalanche on a northwest aspect below the treeline which sympathetically triggered another avalanche about 200 feet away on the same slope.