Aspen

Snowpack

Jewel Campbell · Dec 25, 2024 · Grand Mesa

View on map
Observation photo 1Observation photo 2Observation photo 3Observation photo 4

Weather

Snowy all day: lighty in the morning, gaining intensity around noon, then tapering off again to light snow again by midafternoon. Overcast with low-lying clouds and low visibility and a gentle wind from the southwest below treeline. Temps were in the 20s and rising by the afternoon.

Snowpack

The whole snowpack was soft, and low density. Instability tests did not yield results outside of the fresh snow from the morning. There was a thin layer of facets and buried surface hoar above the thanksgiving layer, however with no slab on top of it, it's not a concern for now. The top of the snowpack was small near surface facets and light density new snow. This area got a bit more snow than the elk mountains but overall has a pretty shallow base of about 2 feet.