Vail & Summit County
SnowpackTim Brown · Jan 7, 2021 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Scattered clouds, no precip, light NW winds, temps mid 20's F
Snowpack
Shallow snowpack up to ~1m with discontinuous soft slab over weak basal facets and depth hoar. Open terrain with deeper snowpack and previously wind drifted snow harbor 1-2' persistent slabs with some potential for propagation. Collapsing and cracking was mostly localized, but more extensive (up to 20m) in areas where the bottom of the slab was stiff enough and thick enough (~15cm of 1F hard snow) to stay on top while skinning. Small column tests consistently produced sudden results and about 50% of large column tests produced positive results on the Dec 11 interface. Widespread 3-5mm surface hoar on the surface in open meadows.