Aspen
AvalancheScott Toepfer · Dec 25, 2020 · Aspen
Weather
No degrees (0*) at the dome when the sun came up, about 300’ above the valley floor. Some high thin clouds 1st thing with mostly clear skies all day. Lite breeze near ridge line at 11,000 feet, mild in the sun, cold in the shade. There was some significant wind at elevations above 11,500’ on Christmas Eve day loading Easterly aspect but also doing a lot of scouring. Gorgeous Xmas day.
Snowpack
Two pits today. First at ~10,200’ ENE aspect 25 degree slope & the second at ~ 10,700’ on a NE aspect, both fairly similar in structure 60-70 cm deep. Bit of a moist crust at/near the ground with facets & depth hoar above that. Pretty much got worse as snow height increased. There were 2 four finger slabs above the basal depth hoar, Sandwiching a fist layer of depth hoar. Near surface facets capping the mess below. One real ECT & one modified quick ECT. The lower elevation pit scored 12 taps (failed in on basal crust in the depth hoar) & a score of 14 at 10,700’ pit failing between the two 4 finger slabs, also in the depth hoar. Would think there’s a fair chance a rider could trigger an initial failure at that mid-pack slab sandwich which would easily step to ground if it first did not fail at the ground. Scary moderate seems a good call below treeline. I would bet any new snow on the old bed surfaces has now become faceted. Bad scenario for any incoming storm cycle. Oh brother.
Avalanche
Lots of recent-ish activity. Crowns all over the place. I suspect many have been reported. What we saw all looked to be a few days old. Nothing in last 24-48 hours. Most all we saw were on N-NE-E aspects. There was a Large, maybe Very large 2-5 day old Hard Slab Natural on a NW aspect around 12,300’. (Treasure Mt) Heavily wind loaded start zone in a cirque feature. Lots of debris. Ran around 4-500 vertical. Big crown.