Aspen
AvalancheBrian Lazar · Dec 27, 2016 · Aspen
Weather
Very cold start to the day with valley inversions around 0F, and 10 degrees on McClure Pass. Temperatures warmed quickly by noon, but so did the southwesterly winds which made it feel like it barely warmed up.
Snowpack
Generally deep and strong snowpack with average HS around 2m. Basal weak layers are not an issue in this area. There was 30 to 50 cm of F hard recent storm snow in the top of the snowpack. Around 80-100cm deep, there were two different weak layers (one in each location) 4F in hardness, sandwhiched between 1F slabs, each around 20cm thick. In Hayes Creek, there was a layer of graupel mixed with very small facets around 80cm down. This layer was not present in Bear Creek on the same aspect and elevation. Instead there was a layer of buried 1mm nsfs around 1m deep. Neither the graupel not the nsfs were reactive in snowpack tests. The lower snowpack is 1F hard, composed of rounds. No obvious basal weak layers.
Avalanche
2 recent Wind Slab avalanches observed just below ridgeline. One just below Bear Peak and the other just below ridgeline above Spring Creek. Viewed from a distance, looked to be around 2 feet deep and 30 ft wide.