Vail & Summit County
AvalanchePaul Rogers · Dec 27, 2015 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Clear skies, mild temps, no winds unless at ridge top where it was a calm SW breeze. No precip or wind transport.
Snowpack
Snowpack height slightly less in this area, compared to areas I've toured recently in the Front Range zone - however this area received a good dose from recent storms. Below TL height averaged around 70-80cm and is a weak snowpack, difficult skinning in trees with lots of trap doors, and foot pen often to ground. A lot of rumbling collapses on southerly slopes below tree-line with some shooting cracks. In the alpine, SW-W-NW are pretty thin or completely scoured. Significant wind loading on Easterly slopes in the high alpine and where we observed recent activity. East and South aspects skied well - no sun crusts yet on south slopes until we got well below TL. We observed depths of 80-110cm on S-E aspects. Even though it was a warm day, only slight settlement observed - expect it would take another day or two of warm temps to make an impact.
Avalanche
No avalanches observed that have not been reported, however two recent large slides in the alpine, on East aspects under cornices, one above Lost Lake, are starting to get filled in already.