Aspen
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek, Jewel Campbell · Mar 1, 2024 · Aspen
Weather
Mostly clear with notable cloud coverage to the west moving over the Elks throughout the day. Light westerly winds gusting moderate at higher elevations with notable snow transport observed along ridgelines.
Snowpack
The average height of snow is around 130-160cm deep near and above the treeline near the summit of Independence Pass. The February 2 persistent weak layer composed of facets and intact surface hoar is still reactive in snowpack tests while the early January layer is starting to blend in with the deeply buried persistent weak layers near the ground and becoming less concerning. East and southeast-facing slopes had multiple buried crust/facet combinations that are concerning and the layer several avalanches failed on. A fracture line profile near the flank of one southeast-facing natural avalanche showed three distinct crusts with facets and even some surface hoar on top of each crust and the avalanche had three distinct crowns as it appears to have stepped down to each one of these crusts without stepping down to the depth hoar.
Avalanche
A widespread avalanche cycle took place in the Roaring Fork River Headwaters and Lincoln Creek drainages during the last storm. Most avalanches were large (D2) with possibly two or three very large (D3) avalanches observed. Some of the avalanches ran early in the storm as the crowns were almost completely filled in with wind-drifted snow while many of the avalanches ran at the end of the storm or after it ended during the strong wind event as the crowns were barely filled in. Almost every avalanche had two to three distinct crowns within the first hundred or so feet of the initial release of the avalanche as they stepped down to deeper persistent weak layers. Avalanches observed around the Independence Lake Trailhead coded in this observation. Avalanches observed lower down Independence Pass and up Lincoln Creek coded in separate observations.