Aspen
AvalancheBrian Lazar · May 23, 2024 · Aspen
Weather
Warm and mostly clear to start the day. Brisk up-valley wind kept things cool in exposed terrain. Clouds began to build shortly afternoon.
Snowpack
Surface crusts are around 15cm thick in most locations and remained supportable into early afternoon despite slushy surface conditions on low-elevation sun-baked slopes. These crusts will likely take a few consecutive warm days and nights to start to break down and expose the moist to wet snow underneath. Recent storm snow was still cold above 12,800 ft in northerly terrain, and drifted up to 18 inches deep in protected catchments. Above 13,200 feet there was enough wind and exposure near ridgeline for Wind Slab formation. Avalanche could break 1 to feet deep in these areas.
Avalanche
Many wet avalanches of both the Wet Loose and Wet Slab variety. The slabs likely ran On Monday May 20. Wet Loose avalanches ran as recently as May 22.