Aspen
AvalancheDylan Craaybeek · Feb 26, 2025 · Aspen
Weather
It was a warm, sunny morning, rapidly cooling in the afternoon as clouds rolled in, northwest winds picked up and it started snowing lightly on and off the rest of the afternoon.
Snowpack
The snow surface below about 9500 feet had a supportable, thick, melt-freeze crust on the surface, including on low-angle, north-facing slopes. Steeper north-facing slopes (generally steeper than 30 degrees) still had dry snow on the surface. Southeast and south-facing slopes near and above treeline also had thick, supportable, melt-freeze crusts that would not show any signs of breaking or even minor cracking with the weight of a skier jumping on it. North-facing slopes near and above treeline have dramatically settled in the last week with that notable storm now only a 40-60cm thick slab ranging from 4F hard (on the hand hardness scale) at the top to 1F or P- hard at the bottom of the slab. The January drought layer is still well-developed facets F to 4F hard, and although the grains in this layer are showing clear signs of rounding, the facets are so well-developed it will likely take a melting and refreezing cycle before this layer is no longer a concern. Snowpack tests tell a story of a hard-to-trigger slab, but once it is triggered, it will easily propagate (ECTx's or ECTP's after 25+ taps and PSTs propagating after cutting about 33% of the column).
Avalanche
Observed several large (D2) to very large (D3) avalanches that slid within the last week on north, northeast, and east-facing slopes.