Aspen

Snowpack

Brian Lazar · May 8, 2024 · Aspen

Weather

Cold, overcast to obscured skies, and a biting moderate northwest wind.

Snowpack

Around 50-60cm of recent storm snow. The bottom 10-20cm of storm snow is much denser and stiffer, looking like the initial snowfall came in warm is bonding rather well to the underlying crusts. The upper/latest storm snow (top 20-30cm) is colder and lower density and this is really the only snow available for transport. Stiff wind-drifted slabs were hard to come by below 13,000 ft, but do exist in isolated terrain features near ridgelines. The crust underneath the storm snow is 20-25cm thick and quite stout. It will take a couple/few days of warm weather with weak freezes to break down. Cornice formation and growth is quite impressive over the last few days. Older cornices have noticeably grown in size, and there are fresh and fragile cornices just from the recent storm snow drifting.