Aspen

Snowpack

Anonymous · Dec 18, 2011 · Aspen

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Weather

Sunny and clear. there was no wind. the temperatures were pretty moderate considering how cold it was at 8 am (7 degrees). We skinned in shirts to the summit.

Snowpack

We were fortunate to find an old skin track. The snowpack seemed pretty shallow (30-50 cm) but it was made of several layers of sugar on very thin crusts. If we had been off trail down low it would have been a wallow. Up higher, nearing treeline we found wind slab under the six inches of fresh powder from last week storm. I skied a north east line and the snow was punchy to the ground, with no suncrusts or wind slabs. My partner took a more eastern facing line and had a more supportive slab under him. The snow pack was very thin on the eastern aspect and deeper on the shaded north side.