Grand Mesa
AvalancheBrandon Levy · Jan 24, 2021 · Grand Mesa
Weather
Snowy with steady light wind from the south. A period of broken skies occurred around midday but was short-lived with more clouds and snowfall approaching from the south. Aside from that short window of no snowfall there was steady snowfall throughout the morning.
Snowpack
There was 20 cm of snow above the easily observed 1/19 interface. Below the recent snowfall the snowpack consists of large grained faceted crystals. An extended column test failed on three taps from the wrist at the 1/19 interface despite the generally soft slab (ECTP3 down 20cm on 2-4 mm FC). The older tracked persistent weak layers (12/11 and 12/28) are still visible in the profile but are all part of the lower and mid-pack weak structure. Snow depth is 90 cm or around 3' with full boot penetration and 30 cm ski penetration.
Avalanche
One thin but wide plow-triggered slab at Aspen Bank.