Aspen
AvalancheBrian Lazar · May 2, 2019 · Aspen
Weather
Cool and calm, with just a few clouds at daybreak. Clouds built throughout the morning and became partly to mostly cloudy by 10AM.
Snowpack
There is still about 350cm of snow on the ground above 11,000 ft. The snowpack is noticeably losing volume faster at lower elevations. The recent storm deposited around 30 inches of snow with 4 inches falling Wednesday afternoon into evening. The first half came in wet and dense, and the last 15 inches was cold dry snow. There was little sign of wind affects. Snow was still standing on tree branches and even exposed ridgelines near and above treeline held soft snow. You could find isolated stiffer wind-drifted slabs right near ridgeline and below cornice features.
Avalanche
Witnessed two small cornice failures. One of these triggered a Wind Slab avalanche on a north-facing slope above treeline. The avalanche broke in the new storm snow (about 2 feet deep), 50 feet wide, and ran a surprisingly long distance (about 1000 vertical feet).