Aspen
AvalancheMatt Huber · Nov 21, 2019 · Aspen
Weather
Snow was falling (S-1)most of the way up to the Lunch Spot. Temperatures remained in the upper 20's for the entire trip. Around 11:00 am the skies began to clear, visibility improved with no blowing snow visible on any ridgelines.
Snowpack
At about 10,500 feet, the recent storm snow had accumulated to about 10 to 15 centimeters and a total snow depth around 40 to 50 cm. The storm snow was moist, fist+. At about 11,000 feet obvious signs of instability became very apparent, shooting cracks 10-15 meters from my skis and whumpfing. I was able to trigger a small D2 soft slab avalanche from along the ridge. The avalanche ran mainly on top of the existing 3-5 mm depth hoar crystals that remain from October, entraining only the top 10 cm of the old snow.
Avalanche
Several loose dry avalanches released from north facing slopes in very steep, cliffy terrain. On a northeast facing slope, I was able to intentionally trigger a small D2 avalanche with a ski cut from ridgeline. The crown was relatively shallow, (20-25 cm), without entraining more than the top 10 cm of the old snow, but propagated 75-100 meters to where the slope angle became less than 30 degrees