Aspen Highlands Triggers Major Spring Avalanche in Highland Bowl

Patrol work shuts down Highland Bowl for the season

Aspen Highlands ski patrol triggered a sizeable wet loose avalanche in Highland Bowl in late April, with the controlled slide caught on camera from the Sundeck Restaurant across the valley on Aspen Mountain. Based on webcam timestamps, the avalanche occurred between 2:40pm and 2:50pm on a Wednesday afternoon.

Spring avalanche control continues despite dry weather

This is a useful reminder that avalanche mitigation work doesn't stop just because it hasn't snowed for a few weeks. Spring weather creates its own set of problems - wet loose avalanches become the primary concern as temperatures rise and snowpack stability changes throughout the day.

Patrol teams continue throwing explosives well into spring to manage these hazards, particularly on steep terrain that holds significant snow volume. It's ongoing work that the punters rarely see, largely because the terrain isn't open when this mitigation happens.

Highland Bowl likely done for the season

The Highland Bowl was closed when patrol triggered this slide, which is standard procedure. Looking at the debris field and snow quality visible in the footage, it's difficult to see how the bowl reopens before Aspen Highlands shuts down for the season.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center had forecast wet loose avalanches for that Wednesday, with the specific warning that smaller slides could gain mass as they moved downhill and potentially trigger larger, more destructive wet slab avalanches. That's exactly the scenario patrol teams are working to prevent in controlled circumstances.

The view from across the valley

The Sundeck Restaurant on Aspen Mountain provided an excellent vantage point for this particular bit of patrol work - you're looking straight across at Highland Bowl from there. It's not often you get to watch avalanche control from a restaurant deck with that kind of perspective.

Spring avalanche mitigation is one of those operational realities that doesn't get much attention but needs to happen regardless. Patrol teams are managing changing conditions daily as temperatures fluctuate, turning stable winter snowpack into potential wet slide hazards.

For anyone heading to Colorado resorts in spring, this is worth keeping in mind. Just because the sun is shining and it hasn't snowed recently doesn't mean avalanche danger has disappeared - it's just changed form. The hazards shift from storm snow and wind loading to wet loose and wet slab concerns that can be equally serious.

Highland Bowl represents some of the most challenging inbounds terrain at any major North American resort, so seeing it shut down by spring conditions and controlled avalanche work isn't particularly surprising. It's steep, it holds a lot of snow, and when that snow starts getting wet and heavy in April, patrol teams quite sensibly decide it's time to bring it down in a controlled manner rather than risk it coming down on its own terms.