Aspen
AvalancheJewel Campbell · Dec 18, 2024 · Aspen
Weather
Mostly sunny skies with thin high clouds. Temps were in the low 30s and there was no wind to speak of below treeline.
Snowpack
Below treeline south slopes were bare ground. The snow on north slopes was 2-2.5' deep and very soft. The surface layer was loose dry snow and sat above a perfectly preserved layer of buried surface hoar about 2" deep. The thanksgiving slab was 1' thick and a bit denser (fist to 4 fingers on the hand hardness scale) and the bottom 1' of snow was forming depth hoar. Instability tests did not yield propagation results under the thanksgiving slab.
Avalanche
I looked for loose dry avalanches on the north side of Highlands ridge but did not identify any. The gullies did look to be loaded with snow from recent winds.