Aspen
AvalancheJared Berman · Nov 24, 2020 · Aspen
Weather
Weather was interesting this afternoon in the Marble zone. Skys were overcast all day with light snow that become slightly heavier as the day progressed. Below treeline temperature were warm near or slightly above freezing. As we ascended to 11,000ft we found quite variable weather. Winds varied from calm to a sustained moderate breeze from the NW. Precipitation progressed from light snow in the early afternoon to moderate snowfall late afternoon.
Snowpack
Snowpack structure varied again this week although we are starting to see more uniform coverage at least around treeline. Below treeline snow was moist and shallow. Total snow depth was around 18" including 6" of new wet snow resting on top. Snowpack structure wasn't anything too interesting other than 2 faint decomposing melt freeze crusts located mid-pack. As we ascended we found a very different structure. At 11,200ft snowpack was much deeper around 2ft deep including about 10 inches of new snow that fell during last night's storm. On sunny aspects this new snow is resting on a more prominent melt-freeze crust. Moving around the compass to colder slopes on North-East aspects, snowpack was still hovering around 24 inches deep but resting on top of an established layer of 2mm facets. To my surprise, we found wind transported snow on SE aspects near and above treeline. Near ridgeline on these aspects, dense wind transported snow was observed as well as cracking and one small avalanche.
Avalanche
A small avalanche was observed on Marble bowl just below ridgeline on a SE aspect at approximately 11,000ft. It appears the slide took place sometime last night or early morning. The crown of this avalanche was directly on the skin track as you approached the summit of Marble Peak. See attached photo. SS-U-R1-D1-I