Aspen

Snowpack

Sean Smollen, Brandon Levy · Mar 5, 2021 · Aspen

Weather

Warm temperatures with 26F at the summit of McClure at the start of our tour and mid forties by the time we returned to the parking lot. Calm winds observed throughout the tour with clear skies.

Snowpack

Snow depth was 120-160cm above 9300' on north thru east aspects. Our tour today compared a due north snowpack vs a due east snowpack at an elevation of 9800'. The east-facing snowpack was moist at the surface at 1100 am and generally dry to moist while the north-facing aspect was dry throughout. On an east aspect the depth hoar was rounding and we could make a snowball by pressing the grains together in our hand which was less evident on the north-facing slope where the depth hoar was still loose and lacking cohesion. Aside from moisture content, both profile locations had relatively similar stratigraphy and snow depth. No propagation propensity observed in either profile with long column tests (ECTX x 2); however, the north-facing aspect initiated failure more easily (CT11SC@33cm north VS CT23SC@20cm east). Also notable, east-facing aspect held a melt-freeze crust / facet combination from warm temperatures and cold nights earlier in the week. Settlement cones were present on sunny slopes. New snow of 5-10 cms at the surface on west-facing terrain was dry during the morning approach to the observation locations but wet and a sticky on egress around 1:00 pm.