Aspen

Avalanche

blase reardon · Jan 30, 2014 · Aspen

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Weather

Snow intensified about 11 AM - heavily rimed. Fell at 2-4 cm/ hr for next 4 hours. Winds gusty, variable directions. easterly, southerly, westerly, northerly... probably westerly w terrain-forced eddying. Cold.

Snowpack

Storm snow not moist.On easterly slopes, 5-25 cm rimed precip particles forming dense layer. Sometimes cohesionless, sometimes slabby(4F). < 1cm fragile crust w 5-10 cm recent snow above 1/27 snow surface - FC, SH, DH depending on location. Similar on northerly but w out eggshell crust. Difficult skinning.

Avalanche

By late afternoon, shaded slopes below treeline very touchy. Easy to release long-running sluffs, slabs and slubs with turns. Some naturals. All entraining lots of snow and running well into and even through trees. Saw some slabs that were < 2" thick. Yep, 2". Anklebiters. For now.