Aspen
SnowpackClark Anderson · Apr 29, 2013 · Gunnison
Weather
warm spring conditions - strong sun by about 10:30
Snowpack
Freeze thaw cycle is on, but not as developed as I'd expected. Before sun hit it, we were seeing a 2-4 inch crust, with 3-4 in being the most common. i was surprised it was not yet thicker - the freeze/thaw has not saturated very deep into the snowpack. And below the crust snow was super dry and rotten, which I would have expected on other aspects, but was surprised to see there (I thought things would be more consolidated). I had read the CAIC report, which made reference to the slow transition to spring - this confirmed that message, even in a place that I figured would be further along. The reality is the area we skied was stable snd there wasnt much snow under the crust anyway, so not a lot there to slide either way.. Given the aspect(s) and season, the S side of Daly wouldn't normally warrant comment right now (that's why we went there), and indeed the conditions were fairly stable . . but i thought id comment because what we were seeing made me think about other areas and there stability. Given what we saw, I'd expect deep persistent weak layers to continue to be a potential issue in some areas, at least for a couple more days