Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Jason Konigsberg · Jan 19, 2016 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Calm winds below treeline. Light westerly breeze above treeline. No snow being transported. Warm temperatures. Skies obscured in the morning to few in the afternoon.

Snowpack

Experienced rumbling collapses on 20 degrees southeast aspect. Wind-drifted snow overlies thin MF crust with very weak snow below. Melt/freeze crust most likely contributing to wide propagation of natural avalanches.

Avalanche

Natural avalanche cycle sometime between 1/16 and 1/18. Many east, southeast, and south aspects ran naturally with some avalanches being very wide. Crowns estimated from 3-5 feet. It's hard to tell if some avalanches stepped down to weak layers beyond the buried NSF or these large crowns are all wind-drifted snow.