Aspen

Avalanche

Aaron Batte · Mar 11, 2017 · Aspen

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Weather

Warm conditions, sunny, no wind, 40+ degree temp. East aspect, elevation 11,140'

Snowpack

Highly variable. We encountered a few spots of light powder and some corn, but mostly a freeze/thaw effected breakable crust top layer all sitting on top of a 18"-23" deep hard persistent layer.

Avalanche

R2, D2 Persistent Slab slide on East facing aspect of Adam Mountain. 20" depth at crown, 120'-150' across at fracture. Heavy wet snow in the layer above the slab caused a slow moving slide. Party of 4, 3 skiers 1 snowshoer. We approached the Adam's Rib area via No Name Creek with the intent to ski the east facing aspect of Adam Mountain. With the snowshoer in a safe zone at treeline, the first skier began a descent from near the summit into the first, east facing bowl. On the third turn an avalanche was triggered from above. We were able to communicate the avalanche to the skier via BC Link radios and the skier stopped skiing in a safe area to the skiers right of the slide path. All 3 skiers were trained and had proper equipment; in this instance the radio was our most critical piece of safety gear. Video: https://youtu.be/QXguhwc3oHc