Vail & Summit County
SnowpackJeremiah Primmer · Mar 24, 2022 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Sunny skies and warm temps but blustery winds kept the snow surface cool near treeline and above. Saw lot of effective loading on southerly and easterly slopes.
Snowpack
We headed up St. Johns Creek above Montezuma. We found sticky conditions at the trailhead with recent snow glopping onto our skins. However, we did not see any roller balls or new loose wet avalanches during the day. A brisk northwest wind kept the snow surface near treeline and above from warming too much. This northwest wind also continued to load southerly and easterly slopes above treeline. Digging into a southeast slope just above treeline, we found 140cm of snow with buried 1-2mm fist hard facets from the mid-winter that propagated with moderate force in an ECT. Meltwater from last week's warm-up had percolated down to the top of these facets. Wrapping around to a northeast-facing slope at a similar elevation, the mid-winter facets were 1mm 4 finger hard and a much thinner layer with no propagating results.