Observation: Public

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

Took a short evening "walk with skis on" in the Aspen Lake environs, around and above a feature called Dead Horse Lake, with one short ski down the N aspect of the hill adjacent to Deadhorse. Noted almost constant loud whumphing in some areas, especially in flat terrain. Saw lots of cracking where there was any cohesive snow, visible collapsing often several feet away, and at least a couple of collapses that clearly propagated much further and shook snow from bushes. Snowpack was mostly thin (50-70cm) and unconsolidated, but some areas had more variation in density underneath the most recent snow. A few cursory looks deeper into the snow in these areas revealed a ~15cm layer of 1-2mm moist faceted grains at the ground.