Vail & Summit County
SnowpackDrew Gibson · Jan 13, 2023 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Mostly calm with periods of light SW wind. Temps mid 20s ATL. High clous kept the sun at bay.
Snowpack
Traveling up west facing trees I found a thin and mostly unsupportive snowpack. Trail breaking was up to 50cm deep to ground below 11,000ft. Above 11,000ft localized collapsing was observed in many places while moving through open areas in the trees. It was easy to affect the deeper layers by digging in a ski tail or near half buried trees and stumps. I dug a quick pit in a shallow area at 11,086ft and found weak snow to ground. ~25cm new snow over a 5cm 4 finger facet layer, over large facets and chained depth hoar to the ground. Extended Column Tests failed on 3 taps or on isolation on the depth hoar. The four finger mid-pack below the new snow was more supportive as the average depth increased over 100cm. I jumped on some test slopes in the more unsupportive areas and I could not initiate any facet sluffs despite a mostly cohesionless snowpack. Near treeline average depth increased to 130cm-140cm and all the trees still had snow on them. I had one rumbling collapse just above treeline in small dish that was initiated near a buried rock. Above treeline on the NE face of Half Dome, some very small loose dry sluffing was observed. Many west facing slopes above treeline are mostly scoured. The only snow in many places ATL on the west are in cross-loaded gullies, or the new light snow from the last storm that will not stick around once the wind picks up.