Aspen
Quick reportBrandon Levy · Apr 8, 2026 · Aspen
Weather
Warm, sunny with increasing and moderate winds from the northwest at ridgetop. The wind was picking up some snow but lee loading was minimal.
Snowpack
The snow depth from 11500' to 12500' varied from zero centimeters to about 1 meter on the east-facing slopes where I traveled. The surface crust was stout and about 35cms thick. CDOT indicated that the snow on the road was very hard when pushing and bucketing during their clearing operations today. I observed snow that was still relatively dry and soft on the skier's right side of cross-loaded concave features that faced east to northeast above 12000'. Below 12000' the snow surface was supportable with that 35cms thick crust and carvable by 1030 am.
Avalanche
There were some small but gouging wet loose avalanches from the heat dome period at West Roaring Fork ( 6 x D1's) all stayed well above the road. They are entered in the HWY survey for highway record keeping purposes