Vail & Summit County
AvalancheScott T · Dec 28, 2020 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Cloudy but could see some blue at times thru the generally thin overcast. Only a trace to 1/4” new snow by 3 PM. Temps mid-20’s and quite windy. Winds were moving snow onto east aspects of Bald most of the day.
Snowpack
2 quick pits, both around 11,000’. First on W aspect, about 20* slope with ~18” snow height. Consisted of all facets and depth hoar with the exception of a thin crust ~ 5 cm above the ground. Could not isolate the column to do any tap tests. Just collapsed into the depth hoar around the crust. 2nd pit on N aspect gully feature about 2’ deep on a short 30-35 degree slope. Same crust near the ground. Crust had depth hoar and depth hoar chains both above and below the crust. Rest of the pit was facets. Neither of these pits indicated much structure or strength. Bit rusty at this, but estimate something like an inch of water (10-14” Hn) would bring a natural cycle. With wind probably less new snow (Hn) needed.
Avalanche
None noted