Aspen

Avalanche

Colin Mitchell · Apr 21, 2016 · Aspen

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Weather

Bluebird day. Calm winds and balmy temps.

Snowpack

About 20 cms of settled snow on top of the old m/f crust. Below that, moist melt forms to the ground. Old facets and depth hoar were rounding and melting, but still identifiable, with corners and some vaguely cup-shaped forms. Basal layers were surprisingly reactive, ECTP13 on the old depth hoar layer. Last weekend's snow was still transitioning to spring, and there were a lot of rollerballs from yesterday afternoon and today on all aspects. Some WL activity on ATL E facing slopes.

Avalanche

Several WL avalanches ran while we were in the field. The largest were small D2's that ran 800-1000 feet. Quite a few appeared to be triggered by small cornice chunks.