Sawatch

Avalanche

Brian Lazar · Apr 30, 2021 · Aspen

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Weather

Warm, calm, and sunny.

Snowpack

Snowpack is quickly melting with bare spots showing through even on high-elevation northerly slopes. East and south-facing slopes corned up around 10am at 12,000 ft. By 11AM, underlying crust was supportable on skis but not in boots. Average snow depth is around 130cm in West Roaring Fork start zones. Dust is visible on the surface. Lots of water has moved through the snowpack to the ground. There are a couple deteriorating crusts in the top 20 cm of the snowpack, a wet, spongy midpack, and wet, rounding facets and depth hoar at the ground.

Avalanche

Several fresh Loose Wet avalanches out of steep rocky terrain on northwest slopes of Independence Mountain.