Vail & Summit County
SnowpackDrew Gibson · Jan 14, 2024 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Mostly calm and S1 snow. Periods of S2. Observed some swirling winds near treeline. Temperatures were in the mid to high 20s.
Snowpack
7-8 inches were reported in the area and heavy snowfall continued through the morning. 14 to 20 inches of new snow was observed on northerly aspects near treeline near mid-day. Widespread cracking and collapsing were observed with many steep test slopes failing on old layers in the snowpack. Near treeline on the ridge, failures communicated hundreds of feet with obvious collapse ripples evident. Winds were mostly calm and no wind transport was observed. The new snow was soft yet reactive. This area was heavily wind-affected before this storm and I was able to trigger failures in areas of shallow snow that communicated into deeper, harder parts of the snowpack. Multiple small slides were triggered on slopes around 28 degrees. All were small, but they all failed within the old snow. There was evidence of multiple natural avalanches that failed in the last 24hrs. The slides were all on smaller terrain but all failed deeply based on the size of the buried blocks.