Aspen
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek · Dec 11, 2022 · Grand Mesa
Weather
Cold morning (19F at the trailhead at 8:00) warming up quickly with mostly clear skies. Clouds increased throughout the morning from Few to Scattered and ridgetop winds were Moderate gusting Strong from the southwest with Moderate to Intense snow transport.
Snowpack
The height of snow averaged around 70-90cm deep on northerly aspects and 30-50cm deep on southerly aspects with wind-loaded east-facing slopes being deeper than windward west slopes but a persistent weak layer was identified on all slopes except for south and southwest. On south and west-facing slopes there is a facet-crust combination that was the layer of failure for several slopes-scale collapses and large shooting cracks travelling dozens of feet in front of ski tips. The slab was about 20-40cm thick on these slopes so avalanches will be smaller but still easy to trigger in these locations. On northwest to northeast through east the persistent weak layer is the November 26 near surface facet layer and is buried about 40-60cm below the snow surface, twice as deep on wind-loaded terrain features. Several collapses and shooting cracks were experienced on these aspects as well as several long-column snowpack tests showing propagating failures between 10-20 taps. The persistent weak layer is beginning to show initial signs of rounding and gaining strength (4F- on the hand hardness scale) but it is still weak and additional snow this week will most likely increase the sensitivity of this layer.
Avalanche
Saw several natural avalanches on northerly aspects and remotely triggered a small (D1) avalanche on the first steep northerly-facing slope I approached.