Aspen
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek · Dec 12, 2022 · Aspen
Weather
Moderate snowfall to this morning and 28F at the top McClure pass around 8:00. Snowfall varied between S-1 and S2 throughout the morning a steady Light breeze and occasional Moderate gust at the ridgeline above 10,000ft.
Snowpack
Widespread collapses on all aspects including south and southeast, some Whumpfs propagating through dense trees and shaking full grown aspen trees around 100 feet away from the trigger point. All the collapses either occurred on a thick facet layer below the slap or below the crust on a crust facet combination on sunny slopes. The slab is 30-50cm thick on southerly and westerly slopes and 40-60cm thick on northerly and easterly slopes with wind-loaded terrain feature twice as thick. Extended column tests on multiple wind-loaded terrain features with a slab thicker than 60cm all showed propagating results between 15-25 taps with propagating failures on 5-15 taps on the more wind-sheltered slopes.
Avalanche
Observed a significant avalanche that most likely slid naturally on Dec. 8, 2022. The avalanche propagated almost a mile wide connecting through multiple thick stands of trees and had a continuous crown for the entirety of the path. The avalanche only slid between 100-300 vertical feet downslope since the terrain feature is not very continuous before it reaches a very low-angle bench above Hayes Creek. See topography image for more details.