Aspen
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Feb 20, 2016 · Aspen
Weather
On Thursday 2/18 southwest winds increased and were strong at all elevations with extreme winds near ridegtop. 3 to 4 inches of snow fell during the day and into Thursday evening with a lot of graupel. On Friday 2/19 the storm cleared but strong to extreme winds remained. Temperatures estimated to be upper-twenties at 12k feet. On Saturday winds decreased to moderate near and below-treeeline with strong gusts at ridgetop.
Snowpack
The wind event of Thursday ad Friday pillaged all above-treeline terrain. Extensive dust was brought in with the wind. The above-treeline terrain is a mix of patches of dusty wind-deposited snow and patches of bulletproof ice.--- During and after the wind event no Wind Slab avalanches were observed as winds were too strong to effectively load any slope or feature.--- On the way in to the hut on Wednesday (2/17) some older Loose Wet avalanches were observed on south to southeast aspects. The date of these avalanches are unknown. A few of the Loose Wet avalanches were large in size. One of these avalanches pulled out a small wet slab. During the time we were at the hut the snow surface stayed cool on all aspects and there was no signs of wet instability.---A lot of pole probing over the course of 4 days indicated a fairly strong snowpack in the alpine. The snow depth in areas not worked by the wind is 150 to 200 cms. The depth hoar at the ground is strengthening and in most places is one-finger hardness. There was no evidence of any consistent mid-pack weaknesses. The only very weak snow found was on shady aspects below treeline.