Aspen
AvalancheMatt Huber , Brian Lazar · Jan 27, 2020 · Aspen
Weather
Snow began falling in earnest (S1) about 10:15, lasting the duration of the trip with periods of heavier intensities, close to an inch per hour. A noticeable but brief break in the clouds was followed by winds shifting to the northwest with precipitation increasing. About two inches of new snow had fallen by the time we mad it back to the trailhead
Snowpack
Two meters of Deep and Weak. Several thin, faceted layers are visibly sandwiched by 1 finger hard slabs in the upper meter of the snowpack. The most pronounced and reactive is the January 8 interface which is about 60 cm from the surface. This layer produced hard, propagating extended column test results ECTP23, but this layer also collapsed in the pit sidewalls as we were preparing the test. The basal layer of large rounding facets extends to over 50 cm from the ground and is 1F+ hard, Extended column tests also produced propagating results on the top of this layer, ECTP28. A recent nearby avalanche initially failed on the January 8 facet layer, stepping down into the weakness closer to the ground, leaving the basal facets in place.
Avalanche
A small natural avalanche on the cutbanks above the road failed on a 1 centimeter melt freeze crust about 15 centimeters deep.