Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg, Ron Simenhois · Jan 10, 2020 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

Obscured skies gave way to mostly clear skies by afternoon. A bit breezy at times but wind loading was light and observed wind loading on adjacent ridges was none to light.

Snowpack

The snowpack near and below treeline is generally faceted with not much of a slab. Snow height in near treeline areas is about 105 cm. The most immediate concern for future snowfall is a thin crust buried just below the surface with well-developed facets underneath. This setup mostly exists on east and southeast aspects. Due south has a stronger buried crust.--- As we got to the upper end of the near treeline band and the lower portion of above treeline, we found areas of hard slab that were unreactive to stubborn. Directly below ridgetop is 4 to 8 inches of softer, wind-drifted snow. We are able to trigger a small avalanche in one of these drifts. We dug on a southeast aspect above treeline and found a moderately strong snowpack. Harder layers of snow are stacked over softer, faceted layers that did not show propagation propensity in extended column tests. This snowpack setup would be able to handle a large load before failing.