Aspen
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek · Jan 17, 2022 · Aspen
Weather
Very cold morning with single digit temperatures throughout the Roaring Fork Valley floor. 9F in Carbondale at 8:00 AM warming to 21F at the trailhead near Ashcroft by 9:00 AM. Clear skies and Calm winds all morning with increasing cloud coverage around noon and Light winds with occasional Moderate gusts above 12,000 ft.
Snowpack
While the snowpack as a whole is mostly rounding and gaining strength the top 20cm of the snow and the snow surface are growing very weak with these low nighttime temperatures and drastic diurnal fluctuations. Most of the January 8th snow has turned into recycled powder (facets). Even the top layer of rounds making up the cohesive slab are showing signs of faceting on northerly aspects. Southerly aspects are developing 2-4cm thick breakable crusts that are a nightmare to ski on. Snowpack tests performed near the treeline on a northwest-facing slope support the trend to Low danger. Snowpack tests on a shallow north-facing slope show unstable results but trending towards less reactive (high ECT scores and a PST end (32/100), see Snow Pilot images for more information).
Avalanche
Saw a few old avalanches and investigated the Ski Hayden Peak east-face avalanche. Links to avalanche obs here: Ski Hayden - https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/obs/obs_report.php?obs_id=68706 Conundrum Creek - https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/obs/obs_report.php?obs_id=69071 different Ski Hayden avalanche - https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/obs/obs_report.php?obs_id=69072