Aspen

Avalanche

Carson Spung Emily Maynard · Feb 25, 2022 · Aspen

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Weather

14" HST, 1.5" SWE over 3 day storm from 2/21-2/25, Light to Moderate wind starting from SW veering to NW over storm period.

Snowpack

85cm Height of snow. Area of crown was shallow and a convex rollover. SW aspect adjacent W facing slopes had observed 130cm height. Crown area was consistently bushes throughout. Weak structure observed down entire crown wall to first melt freeze crust at 40cm from bottom. Cracking and collapsing observed on approach to inspect avalanche on 2/24. Avalanche stepped down into facets to the ground approx. 10 meters from crown.

Avalanche

SS-ASr-R3-D2-O/G. Avalanche was remotely triggered by a group of 2 backcountry skiers on 2/24 at approx. 11am. The group was confident they were the only ones on the slope and saw no other tracks in the path on approach. They then searched the debris with their beacons with no indication and notified Aspen Mountain Patrol of the incident at approx. 12pm. Patrol responded with their own beacon search, dog search, and spot probing with no findings. The avalanche ran on a stout melt freeze ice crust then stepped down to the facet layer and ground. The avalanche was approx. 150' wide and ran approx. 700' down to the midnight mine rd.