Aspen
AvalancheJewel Campbell · Feb 11, 2025 · Aspen
Weather
Overcast all day, and the wind was swirling as a storm came in. Very light snow started in the early afternoon. Temperatures were in the teens and low 20s but felt colder with the breeze. Snow was being transported from the south and southwest onto north and northeast slopes.
Snowpack
Overall the snowpack in this northern tip of the Sawatch is shallow. My skin track below tree line was still very much intact from the last time I was here on January 16th. There was 40-50cm of snow below tree line which was very soft and faceted except for a hard melt-freeze crust on the surface on the east aspect I climbed. The snow coverage was complete across the slopes but I hit every single rock and bit of deadfall on the way down. New snow varied from 5-10cm and was light, growing moist below tree line by mid-afternoon when I descended. By 10,500' the snowpack was 60cm deep but still had lots of ground hazards across talus fields and creeks. The melt-freeze crust was much softer and I could break through it with my skis. I began to find hard wind slabs on northeast slopes around this elevation and found some old slab avalanches on steep east slopes. The northeast wind slabs had glued onto a beefy melt freeze crust which was developing large, feathery facets on the underside. These areas were the only place I could see any localized cracking under my skis. At 11,000' the snow was still soft to the ground with no slab in the snowpack. On a direct north slope there was a wind slab on top a few cm thick on top of a layer of very large and loose facets from the recent cold spell. The warm temperatures from last week did not warm up the surface snow on north slopes at this elevation. The height of snow varied from 60-70cm.
Avalanche
There were a few old slab avalanches on east facing slopes between 10,500' and 11,000'.