Vail & Summit County
SnowpackJason Konigsberg · Feb 24, 2017 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Skies were broken for most of the day with the sun poking through at times. No accumulating snowfall. Winds were moderate at ridgetop, much calmer below treeline.
Snowpack
The new snow was bonded well to old crusts in non wind-affected areas. The most reactive snow was about 3 to 4 inches down and small cornice drops would release very small slabs. These slabs were a result of wind loading with no persistent weak layer observed. Some of these slabs did not slide at the interface with old crusts, but within the storm snow. A moderate amount of snow was being drifted onto easterly slopes...On steep sunny slopes there is a hard crust underneath the new storm snow and any older instabilities from last week will be hard to effect.