Soft, shallow snowpack on north slopes below treeline. Upper snowpack is faceting and has a layer of buried surface hoar. No propagation under the Thanksgiving slab.

West of Aspen

Toured west along the ridge from Buttermilk ski area to the first big meadow and returned the same way

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.

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.

Mostly sunny skies with thin high clouds. Temps were in the low 30s and there was no wind to speak of below treeline.