Aspen
AvalancheJewel Campbell, Dylan Craaybeek · Dec 15, 2024 · Aspen
Weather
Strong gusty winds from the south and southwest all day. Sunny with a few clouds to the south and temperatures in the 30s (Fahrenheit)
Snowpack
Near and above treeline the snow was less than a meter deep and hardened by the wind. The surface crust was breaking and collapsing underfoot though not spreading far at all except in isolated wind-loaded test slopes. Wind-sheltered slopes were quite soft and unsupportable with ski penetration often making it close to the ground. There were no melt-freeze crusts developing on the snow surface on high-elevation sunny slopes, likely being kept cold by the consistent strong wind. Snowpack tests showed mixed results with some extended column tests showing moderate propagating failures and some with non-propagating failures, both below and on top of the Thanksgiving week slab. Above treeline the snowpack was very firm. Snowpack tests indicated instability above and below the hard temperature crust beneath thanksgiving storm snow. This indicates there is indeed a persistent weak layer, even if we aren't seeing avalanches breaking on it in this area.
Avalanche
Several notable large avalanches from a couple of weeks ago during the November 16-17 natural avalanche cycle, although many had been partially of mostly filled in with wind-drifted and hard to determine avalanche size. A couple of newer avalanches from the most recent snow and wind events mostly confined to cornice falls triggering small slabs and some natural Loose Dry avalanche activity.