Vail & Summit County
AvalancheAnonymous · Feb 12, 2017 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Avalanche suspected on 2/10/17. We recorded a high temp of 42F at our Snow Snow Site (11,700') with sustained SW winds around 30MPH with a gust of 72 at 12PM on 2/10.
Snowpack
The hard slab at the top of the snowpack was 7 to 4 feet deep. This layer was pencil to knife hard. A distinct ice layer provided the bed surface. The layer it stepped into was the in the middle of the snowpack. This layer was 8 to 12 feet deep. This was pencil to finger hardness. There was another ice layer above the base layer. The base layer was 6 to 8 feet deep. The top was ice hard, pencil to finger beneath and basal facets that provided the layer that went to ground.
Avalanche
HS/WS-NC-R5-D4-O/G-6 to 7 meters deep. Cornice fall caused a soaked hard slab to propagate across the bowl. That avalanche stepped down twice and to the ground in some places. The base layer that stayed was another ice over hard. That was 60 percent of the start zone. 40 percent of the start zone went to the ground. The flanks were 50 to 100 yards past "normal".