Aspen
AvalancheColin Mitchell · Dec 20, 2016 · Aspen
Weather
Warm and sunny with a light and variable breeze.
Snowpack
Ski pole tests revealed a solid and homogenous snowpack Some softer snow was evident at the base of the snowpack on W and S aspects, but it was pretty stiff. There was still a soft layer about 25 down in the storm snow. This layer was DF's preserved under a wind crust Saturday on McClure pass, and seems to be the same here. Little evidence of wind loading, snow was a little 'thick' on lee aspects, and showed signs of the surface being stripped in other areas. No hard slab or real cornice formation. The snow surface was getting moist on sunny aspects by midday. Some minor cracking at the aforementioned buried wind crust, otherwise, no signs of instability noted.
Avalanche
Many old crowns visible in the Yule Creek area. Most of the slopes around Marble peak ran. In addition to what has been reported, some size 2 or bigger slides were spotted on Purple, Cinnamon, and Baldy down toward Crested Butte, as well as a few big ones in the Raggeds/West Elks between Raspberry Peak and Kebler Pass. None of these slides looked to have gone to ground, but hard to say for sure as they were filling back in.