Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg, Mike Cooperstein · Jan 7, 2022 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

Clear skies, mild, moderate to intense wind loading above treeline on to easterly slopes.

Snowpack

The snowpack generally consists of facets (FC) and depth hoar (DH) near the ground with storm snow since December 23 on top. The slab of storm snow is thick and hard (up to pencil hard on the hand hardness scale). Snow depth (HS) was generally around 130 cm, though there were much deeper areas and much thinner areas due to recent strong winds. On an east-facing above treeline slope, the FC/DH layer was only 23 cm thick from the ground up. We got easy propagating results on this layer. It was surprising to get such easy results with a stout slab. The slope cracked at some point. We couldn't tell when because we were riding sleds. On a west-facing near treeline slope, we also got propagating results, hard though not easy. A propagation saw test gave us a result of 30/110END. Bottom line- this is the worst snowpack I have seen in my travels over the last couple of weeks. It is thin enough to affect the weak layer, yet the slab is stout and dangerous. The failing weak layer was consistently fist hard in all snowpits. This area is probably similar to many other eastern, Continental-Divide type locations.