Aspen

Avalanche

Ben Pritchett · Oct 30, 2024 · Aspen

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Weather

Light to moderate snowfall (up to an inch an hour) most of the day with overcast to obscured skies. Mid-day winds shifted to the west, then the northwest. About three inches of very low-density snow fell throughout the day.

Snowpack

Six to eight inches of snow in the valley bottom increased to over two feet near treeline. The storm started very warm and I found a prominent rain crust at the bottom of storm snow up to 11,600 feet. I dug on several northerly-facing slopes near and above treeline and snowpack tests produced no results (ECTX).

Avalanche

Poor visibilty prevented views into many start zones, but I saw numerous small debris piles from earlier in the storm. These small slides generally stopped high in the track, and none looked large enough to bury a person.