Vail & Summit County
AvalancheKreston Rohrig · Mar 28, 2019 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Sunny and warm with high thin clouds. Strong breeze above treeline was helping keep snow surfaces cool.
Snowpack
Snow surfaces were slow to warm and wet. Easterlies and south aspects were barely getting warm by noon and only changing in the upper few inches. I dug a quick pit on a south facing steep rollover below treeline to look for wet snow and only found melt/freeze grains in the upper 30cm of the snowpack. Boot pen was up past the ankle, but supportive underneath. Near and above treeline all aspects in this area were cold and dry. A strong breeze was the main driver in keeping slopes cold. Evidence of some old slushy tracks and hardened surfaces showed how mild warming over the past few days only wetted the upper few inches. The drive back down the pass was a different story. Steep rocky slopes were shedding loose wet snow in isolated areas, and one large Wet Slab was observed in the Timberfalls chute in East Vail. Later reports confirmed that it ran yesterday.
Avalanche
One significant avalanche was observed in the Timberfalls path in East Vail. Later reports confirmed that it ran on 3/27. Fairly wide crown below the rock buttress and wet debris that flowed down to the ice falls.