Aspen
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek · Nov 7, 2024 · Gunnison
Weather
Cold morning with obscured sky until about around 9:00 when it got sunny with scattered sky coverage the rest of the morning. Cold, southeasterly breeze throughout the day with moderate snow transport near treeline and intense snow transport visible along ridgelines.
Snowpack
Below about 11,000 feet the snowpack is thin, less than 40cm deep, with two distinct layers from the last two storms and some signs of near-surface faceting on the snow surface. The snowpack quickly gets much deeper averaging 70-90 cm near the treeline on northerly slopes with three distinct layers: small facets near the ground that showed signs of melting and refreezing and were well-bonded, a mid-pack slab about 4F hard (on the hand hardness scale) composed of decomposing fragmented particles, and a layer of soft (F hard) precipitation particles. There were spatially variable and discontinuous thin (less than 5cm thick) slabs from last night's wind on northerly slopes above 11,000 feet. Extended column tests showed non-propagating failures on northwest slopes at 11,400 feet and propagating failures on due north about 100 feet higher, both on the facet layer near the ground.
Avalanche
Several small Loose Dry avalanches on slopes steeper than 40 degrees likely triggered by snow falling off trees.