Aspen
SnowpackBrian Lazar and Rich Rogers · Mar 2, 2025 · Aspen
Weather
Mostly clear, sunny and warm. West to southwest winds were very light, but we didn't get into the alpine.
Snowpack
Average height of the snowpack us around 140cm. The slab that formed from the Valentine's to President's Day storm is 4F in stiffness, and rests over a weak layer of buried near-surface or crust-facet combinations around 50cm deep. We observed hard-to-initiate propagating failures in this layer with Extended Column Tests (ECTP 25). Propagation Saw Tests also produced propagating failures on this layer. (PST 30/100 End down 50cm). The mid-pack slab is around a little stiffer and could mostly support you in boots, but you could punch through the slab with a little bit of force. There is a pronounced weak layer of large-grained facets (some depth hoar up to 4mm in size) under the mid-pack slab. We did not get results on this lower weak layer in ECTs but PST did produce results (PST 30/100 End down 100cm). with a notable drop in the slab (see video).