Aspen

Avalanche

blase reardon and Brian Lazar · Nov 18, 2017 · Aspen

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Weather

4-5"of new snow at about ~9000 ft in Yule Creek; ~1-2" lower and on opposite side of valley. Bouts of blowing snow at NTL and ATL ridgelines. Not sustained.

Snowpack

Storm snow fell almost entirely on bare ground in lower Yule Creek and parts of upper Crystal RV visible from near Marble. Looked like 8-12" on ridgelines. Snow cover not continuous or deep enough to exceed surface roughness in wide areas. Further up Yule Ck valley, not many surface features peppering open slopes. Appears snow fell on older snow, likely creating slab where persistent weak layers (Facets and Facet/ Crust combos) had already developed. Triggering avalanches likely but isolated to slopes where ~10" new snow fell on older weak layers.

Avalanche

None observed.