Aspen
AvalancheBrian Lazar · Feb 6, 2024 · Gunnison
Weather
Most cloudy to overcast. Warm (too warm!) with temperatures above freezing to 11,000 ft.
Snowpack
The two storms from MLK weekend and last weekend have grown the snowpack to a depth around 250cm deep. The surface hoar layer buried on Feb 2 is now buried about 50cm. The layer is preserved upright and is obvious in snow profiles. This layer would not produce in ECTs nor on steep test slopes near and below treeline because the slab is too soft in most places. Caution is still warranted on exposed wind-affected slopes, and in the alpine which harbors stiffer slabs. PSTs produced results around 50/100cm. This is encouraging strengthening, but clearly still a concern with more loading on the way. The January drought layer is now down around 120cm, and is getting difficult for a person on the surface to impact. Again, this is not the case in the wind battered alpine, with many localized shallow spots. Avalanches on the surface hoar layer have the potential to step into the January drought layer with enough volume. This would produce avalanches 4 to 5 feet thick and would be hard to survive.
Avalanche
Looks like cornice failure triggered a D2 avalanche off Mud Peak.