Aspen

Avalanche

john morrone · Jan 21, 2017 · Aspen

Weather

intermittent snow and bright, maybe 3" precip from 10 AM till 3PM, mild winds in sheltered location, 10,400-9600'

Snowpack

240CM HS at 10,000 on 25 degree east and south slopes. quite consistent lower snowpack of pencil-1 finger hardness (from probing). minimal basal facets from probe pen. about 10-12" new snow above 10K, perhaps 6-8" lower, south slopes had firm MF crust supporting skiis, no crust detected on E slopes. storm slab quite soft, but stiff enough to propagate fractures to 20'. new snow lies over surface hoar E facing, or crust/facet/hoar combo on S facing, both with easy shears in hand pits.

Avalanche

intentional ski cut at 40 degree convex roll in small feature on lee (east) side at point 10,399 resulted in R1-D1 propagated soft slab with fractures radiating to 30' but no real movement or sliding on surrounding 33 degree or lower angle slopes. post slide investigation indicated 8-12" storm snow failed on thin surface hoar layer no naturals seen, although steepest terrain in area were mostly low 30+degree, or small supported slopes to 40 degrees