Aspen

Observed a number of avalanches from last weekends storm and more recent ones from wind transport after the storm on Sunday and Monday. It was relatively easy to trigger long-running loose dry avalanches on any slopes steeper than 35 degrees that have the potential to gouge to the ground on consistently long, steep slopes.

Cold morning quickly warming up to a mostly clear and sunny morning. Clouds increased throughout the afternoon to overcast by 14:00, and winds picked up consistently throughout the day, transporting snow onto leeward, north-facing slopes along ridgelines.

The new, low-density snow never seemed to settle into a cohesive slab here and is already showing clear signs of faceting just below the surface. This "slab" is consistently 30cm thick on all aspects above around 10,000 feet and ranged from F hard to 4F hard on the hand hardness scale. All extended column tests showed either no failures or non-propagating failures. Shovel shear tests highlighted how poorly the new snow bonded to the old snow, but it hasn't developed into a cohesive slab yet, so it is just weak snow resting on weak snow. Along the ridgeline where stiffer, wind-drifted slabs existed, it was easier to get some cracking in the new snow, but no long propagating cracks or collapses. Ski penetration was consistently about 30cm deep, and foot penetrations were either slightly deeper or all the way to the ground, depending on how firm the slab from early January storms was.