Aspen

Avalanche

Matt Huber · Feb 8, 2020 · Aspen

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Weather

Warm and windy.Winds were definitely transporting snow but didn't seem to be effectively loading much on leeward slopes, surface conditions were stiffening though. Around this portion of the zone this storm looks to have produced a net loss in snow depths, especially above treeline

Snowpack

Extended column tests produced easy to moderate propagating results on the facet/melt freeze crust from the first few days of February. Mixed with an upside down storm snow profile sitting on top of the crust, signs of instablility were suprisingly few and far between. The snowpack depth in protected areas near 11,000 feet hovers around 1.5 meters. Moderate to hard non-propagating extended column tests at obvious wind slab/facet interface at 70 cm from ground

Avalanche

Wind scouring mad it difficult to determine avalanche crowns and tracks, many debris piles obvious but uncertain when they ran.