Aspen
AvalancheAnonymous · Apr 3, 2014 · Aspen
Weather
The weather was snowy and cloudy, then sunny, then snowy again (springy weather). The wind blew around 15-20 mph sustained and seemed to swirl and change direction for about 30 min while on the ridge. When the sun came out it stopped almost completely. The temps climbed as soon as the sun was out.
Snowpack
We observed no signs of instability while skinning or on the ridge. The area and aspect we skied was not wind slabby and felt fresh completely underfoot. I personally did not feel the dirt layers underfoot. Snow in the gully and trees on way back to truck felt great, though getting a bit gloppy from the brief sunshine and lack of wind or colder temps.
Avalanche
Cut 2 cornices (~500 lbs estimated size), to assess stability. Both cornices did not propagate any avalanches but set off some sloughing on the top layer of fresh snow. Both impacted/cratered the snow layering to below the dirt levels. While skiing/ boarding we did set off some small sloughs on that top layer of fresh snow. None of those propagated or broke down to the lower layers but ran for 500 ft or more.