Aspen
AvalancheBrandon Levy · Dec 12, 2022 · Aspen
Weather
Very light snowfall began around 0900 and transitioned to light snowfall (approx. 1cm / hour) around 1100. It was not snowing in the valley around noon after I left the field. Along with the increase in the snowfall rate I observed the southwesterly winds tick up from light to moderate also around 1030 or 1100.
Snowpack
I spent most of the morning on northwest-facing slopes from 9000' to 10500'. The snowdepth on those slopes was farily uniform 60-70cms or about 2 feet deep. Collpases and cracking occured often when breaking trail in untouched snow. These collpases and cracks were fairly localized with only a few rumbling collpases that shook small trees. A profile at 10200' showed poor structure and an extended column test produced a propagating result after 7 taps from the wrist (ECTP7 down 31 cms on DH 4-8mm). I dug on a northeast-facing slope at 10400' and the snowpack was deeper at 83 cms or about 2.5 to 3 feet deep. An extended column test at this location also produced a propagating result but it was after 10 taps from the wrist and 8 taps from the elbow. (ECTP 18 down 44 cms on 4mm DH)
Avalanche
With relatively flat light and limited visibility I only observed one small slab avalanche in Hunter Creek on a northwest-facing slope.