Aspen X Guides

Spring 14er climbing season in full swing

AE — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:59:20 +0000

Eric, psyched to be up on the Maroon Bells.

Recent climbing conditions on the Maroon Bells are great right now.

It was a gorgeous morning.

The couloirs on the Bells are still in good climbing condition.

Steve Johnson, AMGA rock/alpine certified and AE guide leads up the couloir.

Eric navigates the spring snow runnels to near the top of the couloir.

Spring Update

AE — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:01:04 +0000

Spring is here in the Rocky Mountains. The days are pleasant, the leaves are bursting, and there is still good ski access to the high country.

This is a magical time of year in the Elk Mountain Range when you can ski, rock climb, hike and alpine snow climb ….. all in the same day. Conundrum Couloir and the “Y” Couloir on South Maroon Peak are in ideal shape and absolute classic climbs.

Independence Pass is rumored to be opening early …we’ll you keep you posted.

Climbing the "Y" couloir on South Maroon Peak

Before and After

AE — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:12:08 +0000

Amazing images of how powerful a large avalanche can be. This before and after imagery was captured by the Canadian Avalanche Center in the Selkirks during a large cycle that ran this year.

Before - Large growth pines throughout

Same shot after a Class 4 Avalanche

Opus Hut – Big line skiing mixed with European comfort

AE — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 03:27:55 +0000

Opus Hut

A fellow guide and I had the pleasure of spending a night up at the newly opened Opus Hut after finishing up a AIARE level 3 avalanche

Following the trail in on the summer road. Great steep skiing on the north aspect glades (left)

course in Silverton a few weeks ago. The hut which is located on an old mining claim is located at treeline a few hundred yards to the west of the top of Ophir Pass and has some of the best ski touring in Colorado. With warm sunny weather in the forecast we started from the trailhead a few miles north of Silverton around 9:30am. The access follows the summer ophir pass road up past several south facing avalanche paths which require some caution during elevated danger. Overall the grade is minimal and the skinning easy with an overnight pack. We reached the hut after around 2 hours of skinning and were greeted by owner Bob and friend who had just skinned in from the Ophir side.

The hut, which sleeps up to 16 including hut-keeper is an architectual masterpiece. Using old ax cut beams from an old dairy barn on the mining claim, the hut has quite a bit of character.

View looking south fromt the hut at endless terrain

You enter on the middle of the three story structure and have a large area for boots, packs, skins, and drying gear. This area enters into an open dining and living area with large windows displaying the plethroa of big line skiing oppertunites that existn in every direction. Downstairs are two bedrooms for guests with additional drying space and the hut-keeper quarters. Upstairs there are two larger bedrooms with bunks and multiple sleeping areas and a viewing deck. The over the top amenity at the hut is having running hot and cold water and indoor composting toilets. It was ultra cozy to wake up in the middle of the night and not have to stumble outside to use the bathroom.

Hut with backyard terrain and larger south facing terrain in background

As for the skiing, the oppertunities are endless. There is lower angled glades right out the doors with north through east facing meadows that allow fun powder skiing in elevated avalanche danger conditions. South facing larger bowls just to the east of the hut offer great corn skiing and longer runs back down to the road and also make for some great turns on when departing the hut. If the conditions are right, there is larger lines that exist on every aspect from the hut with some being steep tree lined chutes to large bowls with 3000 foot descents. There is easily a weeks worth of skiing to be had if you can time the conditions right.

Nothing like cold beer, snacks and unreal views from the porch to finish off a day of touring..

Overall our experience at the Opus Hut was amazing and I look forward to another trip back later this spring.

Gastons crush it at Power of Four

AE — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:30:25 +0000

John and Pete Gaston, after taking the win by two seconds at the 2012 Power of Four race.

Hats off to Pete and John Gaston for their win at last Saturday’s Power of Four Ski Mountaineering Race. Their two-second win over Team Crested Butte’s dominating duo, Bryan Wickenhauser and Brian Smith, was about as close as it can get.

After racing with the leaders for most of the race, they started the final climb up Midnight Mine Road in a distant third place, after the numbing winds up on Highland Bowl slowed their pace and transition. The two teams in front of them weren’t even in sight, but instead of throwing in the proverbial towel, the brothers plowed up the hill, and reeled in the 2nd place team before the climb was done. Arriving to a “now or never” moment according to Pete, and with the leaders in sight, they straight-lined Copper, and while clocking a speed that would be a ticket-able offense out on our Highway 82, took the lead and won.

Nice job guys. Way to represent.

Dick Jackson was at the finish with his camera, here’s some of the action he witnessed.

Pete leads to the finish and John follows, trying not to let Wick and Smith close in, who are just out of the photo.

Having barely come to a stop, Pete and John congratulate each other, while Wickenhauser skis in, just two seconds behind.

The final four-- Bryan Wickenhauser, Brian Smith, John Gaston, and Pete Gaston (L to R).

Crazy finish. Nice job guys!

Oh yeah, and thanks Aspen Expeditions for all the help with the event.

Flying with Avalanche Airbags – Clarification Explained

AE — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:56:30 +0000

There is alot of confusion over the correct way to fly with an avalanche airbag pack and what is allowed. International travel is different from that within the United States. The TSA has strict guidelines which applies for all pack designs, canister configurations and trigger mechanisms. Below is an excerpt from a TSA explosives expert who deals alot with the issues arising from Airbag packs and airline travel. The most notable change is that ABS which prides itself on claiming you can fly with a charged nitrogen canister is grossly mistaken. Under the latest guidelines, you cannot fly with ANY fully charged canister no matter what the gas is inside. The other change is that you cannot fly with a charged or live ABS trigger handle as these contain explosive charges. As per the TSA, the BEST PRACTICE for flying with a canister is to make sure the canister is empty and also remove the top so that it can be visually inspected. Leave the canister in the airbag pack and include the material safety data sheet with the canister.

FROM TSA EXPLOSIVES EXPERT:

I am an Explosives Specialist for TSA, and I want to clear up some bad information in this article. First off, regarding travel restrictions:

No avalanche rescue air cylinders, regardless of what you choose to call them, are allowed through TSA security unless screeners can visually verify that the cylinders are empty. For ABS systems, that means a punctured burst disc. For others, the cylinder head/valve must be removed to show an empty cylinder. Additionally, ABS trigger handles are not allowed through security if they contain a live explosive cartridge. Only expended handles are allowed. Determination of whether or not they have been activated can only be made by an Explosives Specialist, not a screener.

Secondly, regarding the blatant insult of TSA personnel. I don’t disagree that the competency standards for TSA are pretty low, especially at the basic screener level. However, it is unfair and petty for an otherwise reputable website to assume we’re all morons. Some of us work in less-visible parts of TSA, and we are highly educated and have a level of experience far exceeding that of the common citizen. The only confusion I see here is perpetrated by the article’s author for stating that the way in which you refer to your equipment will have any effect on our requirement to examine any air bottle we detect.

Photo Journal – Capitol Creek Ski Tour

AE — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:34:02 +0000

North Facing Meadows below Haystack on skin up to Capitol Creek TH

A few weeks ago with the sketchy snowpack in the roaring fork valley not offering much in the way of skiing traditional mid winter lines, I decided to explore a new area that I had been to several times in the summer but never in the winter. The capitol creek trail has little information as to winter access and where the road is plowed to so this was really a stab in the dark. Heading out mid morning in preparation to get a good few hour tour in before the Superbowl we set out. Surprisingly the road is plowed up quite high and you can use one of several plowed ditch culverts to park. The highest plowed area lies about 1 mile down from the normal 4WD parking for the summer ditch trailhead. We skinned up the road grade through the north facing aspen trees to the summer parking and enjoyed the beautiful views of Daly and Capitol. From here you can either follow the summer ditch trail or continue up the road to the ridge-top.

Capitol From Ditch Trail

Following the ditch trail we skinned on the flat grade until the steeper north east facing meadows. From here we wrapped around the backside of the steeper pitches and took to a safer skin trail up through the dense timber. On a normal winter this area would offer great steep and deep lines with about 1000+ vertical per lap. Wrapping around out of the woods onto the ridge we ascended to a highpoint with great views of Sopris, Daly, Haystack, and Capitol. Due to snow conditions we descended through some low angle open meadows to the dense forest and back out in some aspen glades down to the ditch trail. Not the most ideal skiing but that has been hard to find this year and the views made up for the lack of deep turns.

North facing medows and pitches from summer TH parking

Ditch Trail - Not much snow on Southern aspects

West face pictchs off of Haystack - from ridgeline with views of Haystack, Sopris, Daly, CapitolDaly from North Medows near ridgeline

Additional North facing shots from Ridgeline

Madeline with Capitol peak in background and medows we ascended to far right

AIARE Level 1 Tour Day – Photos From the Field

AE — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:15:15 +0000

Layer Analysis in the Snowpit

This past Sunday, Aspen Expeditions AIARE instructors led a tour up the Express Creek valley out of Ashcroft with a group of 4 AIARE Level 1 students for a day of touring and exploring the snowpack. The tour planning started the night before with students planning out the tour with the help of maps and the instructors guidance. Planning is a big aspect of organizing a successful and safe tour. It allows the group to plan accordingly for group dynamics, goals, turnaround times, group gear planning, and logistics.

Touring up below the M&M Chutes, Brown Mtn

With the tour plan dialed, the group met up at the Express Creek trailhead parking, loaded up, did a beacon check, and headed into the wilderness for the day. Touring up past Green Mountain and into the basin east of Brown Mountain the group was able to stick to their plan and find low angle terrain to gain elevation and eventually lead to their destination point. From here the group conducted a series of full snowpit tests using both the extend column test and compression test. Results were as expected with shears in the moderate range but fully propagating on low angle slopes which signifies instability. Overall it was a beautiful day for a tour.

ECT sheer test results in snowpit

Some good skiing to be had on the way out

Lightly Gladed area northeast of Brown Mtn, gladed terrain good for snow analysis and safe skiing below 30 degrees

If you are interested in a Level 1 or Level 2 AIARE course we have courses starting almost weekly. Give us a ring at 970-925-7625 to inquire and get out in the backcountry and see how it all works.

Photo Journal – Aspen Mtn Off Piste and Ashcroft Touring

AE — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:45:33 +0000

This past week guided trips went out on Richmond Ridge on the backside of Aspen Mountain and also up in the Castle Creek valley above Ashcroft. Safe skiing conditions and good powder could be found in all areas and the Colorado blue skies enhanced the views and vistas. The group skied around 2,200 vertical feet on Richmond Ridge and over 4,000 feet off of Green Mountain above Ashcroft.

Richmond Ridge Powder Turns

Getting the freshies. Supportive upper snowpack has lead to great skiing conditions

Beautiful Sunny Day for Off-Piste Skiing

Taylor Basin as seen from Green Mountain

Skinning up the west side of Green Mountain

Headwaters of Castle Creek in the background. Mace Peak on the left, Castle Peak in the back middle. Beautiful views everywhere

Serinity

Taking a little break on saddle below Green Mountain

Skinning up NE Shoulder of Green Mountain, Brown Mtn in the background

East Face of Castle Peak, classic ski descent

Cathedral Peak as seen from the top of Green Mountain

Summit of Green Mountain, beautiful day to be out in the backcountry

To book your own backcountry ski adventure and enjoy fresh powder turns and beautiful vistas call us at Aspen Expeditions at 970-925-7625!

Crusty Crusts – How mysterious crusts form

AE — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:20:55 +0000

Layers of the Snowpack

Although we don’t experience much rain or mid-winter ice storms in the Aspen Area, it is a weather phenomenon which affects several good backcountry skiing areas of North America. This is especially true in interior British Columbia and coastal ranges where lower elevations lead to dramatic storms which can dump feet of snow followed by a rain to crust it all over. This article written by Karl Klassen of the Canadian Avalanche Centre gives a good overview of some unique crusts and how they form.

I’ve been involved in a discussion about crusts recently—specifically those sometimes referred to as “alien” or “mystery” crusts that seem to appear without an obvious reason or cause. People often associate these crusts with freezing rain but I think in many cases, rime is the culprit, although freezing rain and freezing drizzle could also be players.

Rain everyone understands: When an airmass becomes saturated with water vapour, clouds or fog or mist appear. These clouds (or fog or mist) consist of tiny water droplets that are held in suspension within the airmass. If enough of these tiny water droplets touch each other and join together (coalesce) droplets become large enough to fall out of suspension and liquid water falls from the sky. Technically, droplets larger than 0.5mm are rain and droplets less than 0.5mm are drizzle.

In some cases, the water droplets forming cloud/fog/mist or rain/drizzle become “supercooled.” That is, they are below the freezing point but do not turn into ice. I can’t say I fully understand why this occurs but in the case of freezing rain/drizzle, it’s often associated with warm air above cold air in the atmosphere. This might be an above freezing layer (AFL), which is a parcel of warm air above a colder layer or an inversion where cold air pools at lower elevations and warm air lies above. Rain forming in the warmer air above falls through colder air below and becomes supercooled.

Freezing fog/mist then is tiny supercooled water droplets held in suspension. Freezing drizzle is supercooled liquid water droplets less than 0.5mm in size and freezing rain is supercooled liquid water droplets greater than 0.5mm in size. Whatever the case may be, as soon as supercooled water hits anything it freezes on impact; when that happens, freezing fog/mist forms rime ice and freezing rain or drizzle forms water ice.

The rime ice that comes from freezing fog is the milky-white accumulation (technically accretion) you see on lift towers, fences, trees, branches, etc. Hard rime is a layer that’s really stuck to whatever surface it’s formed on, you need to scrape it to get it off. Soft rime is more feathery and doesn’t stick as well—it’ll mostly fall off when you give the tree or branch a decent smack or shake. Rime accretes on the windward side as air movement drives the suspended water droplets against objects. In extreme cases, rime accretions can be massive; in maritime climates like New Zealand and parts of Australia I’ve heard of ski lifts and power lines falling down during rime events as tonnes of rime form on the windward side and unbalance the structure.

The water ice that comes from freezing drizzle or rain looks more like ice cube ice: clear, very hard, and generally very glued to whatever surface it’s formed on. It tends to accrete more uniformly on the top of surfaces but if driven by wind it can be heavier on the windward side as well. Ice from freezing rain can also accrete in impressive amounts and be very destructive, as when trees and power lines fall from simple overloading.

Riming and freezing rain/drizzle can form crusts on the snow surface. These crusts can be thick or thin depending on how pronounced the process is and how long it goes on. In the White Mountains of New England I have seen rime crusts that are tens of centimetres thick. The ice storm that hit parts of New England and Quebec in 1998 formed a 10 centimetre thick blue-ice ice layer on the surface of the snowpack. This ice layer supported the combined weight of my entire avalanche class (12 people) all standing in the same place.Where I saw it in Pinkham Notch you could have played hockey on the freezing rain crust of 98 before it got buried.

The characteristics of the crust that forms vary depending on the atmospheric and snow surface conditions that exist as the crust forms. Classically, however:
- Hard rime crusts are milky-white and kind of crunchy.
- Soft rime crusts are milky-white and more feathery.
- Freezing rain/drizzle crusts are hard, relatively smooth, and clear.

The other possibility is garden-variety (non-freezing) rain. This doesn’t form a crust immediately—it wets the surface and if enough rain falls, creates a layer of slush on the surface. The crust forms when this wet or slushy layer freezes after temperatures drop. This is a melt-freeze crust, just like the ones formed when strong solar radiation or warm air temperatures create free water in the surface layer and that wet or slushy layer then freezes after temperatures fall. Melt-freeze layers consist of a mixture of snow grains and liquid water. The ratio of snow to water will determine how strong the crust is and how it looks: more water=stronger, more clear and icy looking; less water=weaker, more opaque/white and crumbly. The thickness of a melt-freeze crust formed by wetting from rain will depend on how much rain fell over how long a period and to an extent, the characteristics of the snow it fell onto.

So… back to what causes these weird crusts. If there is no precipitation falling out of the sky, your goggle lenses and front of your jacket/pants are freezing up as you move, and a whitish crust is forming it’s probably a riming condition. If there is precipitation falling and clear water ice is forming, it’s probably freezing rain or freezing drizzle. If it’s been pretty warm and raining, and a crust forms after temperatures cool off, it’s probably a melt-freeze crust from rain wetting the snow. If you’re not out there when it’s happening, it can be hard to figure out after the fact what caused the crust, but thinking about the atmospheric conditions and looking at the characteristics of the crust can provide clues.

Whether a crust will create short-term avalanche problems depends on the characteristics of the crust and the characteristics of the next snowfall—this is what determines whether the new snow will bond. Whether a crust will become a persistent weak layer (PWL) depends to some extent on the short-term bonding but more on the temperature-gradient driven metamorphic processes that subsequently take place. Faceting for example, is common around crusts but doesn’t always occur and it certainly doesn’t always occur to the same extent. For example, the classic worst-case scenario is a rain on snow event that gets covered by new snow while unfrozen, then freezes after it’s buried—this condition generally has far more faceting associated with it than in what at first glance appears to be a very similar process: a rain on snow event freezes into a crust before it’s buried then is covered by new snow after it’s frozen. Bruce Jamieson et al have published papers on crusts and faceting:

In the end, trying to figure out exactly what caused a crust is less important than assessing the stability of the resulting layering. Crusts often have a weak layer above or below. These weak layers can form the failure layer of avalanches. But we should not assume all crusts will behave in the same predictable way every time; sometimes a rain on snow event creates a long-term PWL that persists for months (1996), other times a rain on snow event will not be much of a problem (2010). It’s important to recognize that:

Crusts often have great spatial variability: the characteristics of the crust itself and the bond to under-and over-lying snow can be very different from one aspect, elevation, terrain feature, slope, drainage, or region to the next.
The characteristics and bonds associated with a crust will vary over time. An initially good bond at a crust can deteriorate if the conditions in the snowpack are right and vice-versa
This means no matter what formed them, we need to look at crusts like all other layers and assess them in different places and at different times to determine the stability of the layering and assess the potential avalanche hazard.

Karl Klassen – Manager
Public Avalanche Warning Service
Canadian Avalanche Centre
kklassen@avalanche.ca