Vail & Summit County
SnowpackAndrew McWilliams, Kreston Rohrig · Dec 10, 2025 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Broken skies, temperatures were above freezing by the time we returned to the trailhead, and light winds.
Snowpack
The snowpack is still simple. There is a slab of recent snow from the storm on December 5 to 7 that comprises most of the snowpack. Where snow lingered in the Fall and accumulated during the small storms at the end of November, faceted grains were able to form on the ground. On northerly slopes, we found depth hoar grains already formed and growing. Where we dug on a southeast-facing slope there was a thin layer of small facets. Both slopes had propagating results in Extended Column Tests, and we observed recent avalanche activity on both as well. We found drifts up to about a meter deep, and the average depth where we traveled was about 40 to 60cm. Where there wasn't a recently formed slab, the snowpack was soft, and likely faceted or faceting, all the way through.