Aspen

Snowpack

Brian McCall · Nov 14, 2011 · Gunnison

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Weather

Mild temperatures, +1 C at trailhead. Overcast and obscured skies all afternoon. Occasional periods of light snow at S-1. Winds generally light but gusty at treeline out of the southwest. Stronger winds above treeline.

Snowpack

Classic early season snowpack in the area. It is thin and highly variable with snowpack depths and layering changes occurring over very short distances. Recent storm snow from the weekend has settled to about 25cm in the upper snowpack. It was higher density consisting of heavily rimed snow crystals. Older snowpack layers consist of facets and mixed forms. The most significant weak layers was a layer of 1-2mm facets near the ground.