Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Mar 19, 2022 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

Skies were clear and temperatures cold to start the day. Temperatures warmed quickly. Breezy winds with light loading. High clouds moved in after noon.

Snowpack

Ten inches of recent snow from the wed/Thurs storm.---Slightly wind-affected snow near ridgetop with a thin wind skin in places.--- Below treeline the snowpack is about a meter deep. It is generally faceted on north-facing slopes with a ~12 inch slab that is supportable in open areas. Other aspects have a mix of facets and crusts. ---Near treeline we dug on a northwest-facing slope and found a snowpack 160 to 180 cm deep. Suprisingly we got propagation in an ECT on small facets between the late Feb storm and early March storm. No propagation on dry-spell facets. We also dug on a north-facing slope and got more expected results which was ECTP21 on dry-spell facets. This layer was 70 cm from the surface and the snowpack depth was 190 cm.---We got a few collapses on flattish slopes. We didn't travel near any very steep slopes.---Exiting below treeline westerlies in the afternoon was really gloppy. We didn't encounter steep slopes, but if we had, wet loose avalanches were definitely on the table.