Aspen
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek · Nov 27, 2024 · Aspen
Weather
Broken cloud cover with light west winds.
Snowpack
Consistently one to two feet of new snow resting on top of crusts on southerly slopes and a thin, faceted melt-freeze crust with weak facets below it on northerly and east-facing slopes. Wind drifts with up to four feet of new snow along the ridgeline. Snowpack tests showed easily propagating failures in extended column tests, all failing below the facet crust buried around 18-24 inches deep. This is the same layer that all of the avalanches failed on as well.
Avalanche
Almost every slope capable of producing an avalanche in this area produced an avalanche. Two of the avalanches were large (D2) and occurred on slopes many people consider "safe terrain for dangerous days".