Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Brad Sawtell · Feb 16, 2011 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Wind speeds picked up by 11am and mostly from the S and SW. Gusts above TL were in the 40mph range. Temperature hovered in the high 20's, warmer at the top of the pass by 2 pm. Mostly cloudy sky, with brief sucker holes.

Snowpack

Near tree line, HS hovers around 150 cm's. Ascending the E ridge of N Star, probed depth up to 180cm's. Surface was soft but highly wind affected. Probing revealed a stout sun affected crust 30 cm's below the surface. Tests showed this to be the layer of concern as it is sandwiched by small faceted grains. CT18,Q2 and ECTN,Q2. Lots of salt/pepper looking slopes abv TL. Quite thin in areas.