Aspen
AvalancheSean Smollen Brandon Levy · Mar 28, 2021 · Aspen
Weather
Beautiful day, clear skies and warm weather. At 10:40am at 12,070' air temperature was 26 degrees Fahrenheit and increased rapidly. Winds began calm but increased to light from the NW. No precipitation, and no blowing snow observed throughout our tour.
Snowpack
On a SW aspect at 12,070' height of was between 130-180cm. Multiple faceted grain / crust combinations sit it the upper snowpack above a 50cm thick mid pack slab that was one finger hard. This mid pack slab encompasses the mid January interface as well as old windblown February snow and lives above rounding depth hoar. Propagating results in long column tests occurred on two separate persistent weak layers today: the early December rounding depth hoar at ~43cm up, and on 1mm facets on top of the mid-March melt-freeze crust / faceted grain combination at ~96cm up. (PST49/100end down 92cm on 20201210), (PST54/100end down 42cm on 20210310). Recent warm temperatures have settled the new snow and as a result the top 50cm is now cohesive and strong enough to propagate fracture on the mid-march crust/faceted grain combination. Moisture content near treeline was dry on southerly slopes at 11:00am, moist as we travelled lower in elevation and wet at the winter closure at 12:30pm.
Avalanche
Loose activity on south thru east-facing slopes near treeline and above treeline. Nothing greater than R1-D1 in size.