Aspen
SnowpackTim Brown · Dec 11, 2015 · Gunnison
Weather
Moderate southwest winds continued to transport snow onto easterly aspects today
Snowpack
Winds built shallow wind slabs / crusts up to 3" thick on top of up to 2 feet of mostly weak, faceted snow. This 1 finger hard layer may become problematic if the forecast verifies and new snow accumulates on top of it to form a persistent slab over the next few days. There's also an old melt-freeze crust about a foot off the ground that has been faceting away, but is still smooth and 4 finger hard on sun-exposed slopes. The snow between this layer and the layer that formed last night and today is very weak, so it seems that any avalanches that release near the surface could easily step down into deeper snow or gouge out the entire snowpack.