Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Nick Barlow · Jan 13, 2018 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Calm and beautiful morning, with periodic sunshine and passing clouds. Observed light wind transport at ridge top, but winds were generally calm and variable N/BTL.

Snowpack

HN36 of 30-40cm. Seven-day storm total of about 50cm (settled). Very low density storm snow, with little slab quality at lower elevations. Surface slab stiffened ATL, but was relatively non-cohesive. Higher slopes above 12,500ft had wind-textured appearance, with deep wind-drifted slabs visible on specific aspects. Sections of bare ground and numerous rocks still very visible ATL. Weakest layer was a brittle ice/melt-freeze crust buried about 70cm down. No propagation or clean failures in block tests. Only sign of instability was an audible collapse in the flats BTL. No cracking, further collapsing, or signs of recent avalanches.