Vail & Summit County
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Feb 14, 2016 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Overcast with snow starting around 11 AM. Snow rates of S-1 to S1 with accumulation of about an inch. Windy near highway 91 in the morning but calm BTL and light wind NTL. Temperatures in the low-twenties.
Snowpack
Snowpack BTL at elevations below about 10500 ft is about 1 meter deep and consists of mostly facets except for a thin surface melt-freeze crust. Snowpack at this elevation is unsupportable to skis.--- At elevations above 10500 ft (BTL to NTL) snow depth is about 130 cms with a supportable upper-snowpack slab of about 40 cms resting on weak snow to the ground. There is a thin layer of faceted snow about 40 cms deep below this slab but I could not identify it as surface hoar and it did not produce any propagation in a test. The depth hoar near the ground did propagate a fracture on 27 taps in an ECT.---Overall impression of the snowpack in this area is that it is much weaker than other areas of the zone. The depth hoar is fist hardness near the ground and this layer will definitely cause trouble in the future when loaded.---Obs from northwest to east facing terrain.