Vail & Summit County
SnowpackAnonymous · Apr 26, 2011 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Variable & constantly/quickly changing throughout the day. From Bluebird, 25, and light wind to dumping 1-2"/hr with 20-25 SE winds with zero visibility. Depended on elevation & aspect, but travel was slow at times due to heavy thick snow and limited vis. Temps remained below freezing above 10,500 for most if not all of the day.
Snowpack
12-18" of fresh on top of 6-8" from yesterday. No signs of instability, but did observe recent activity throughout. Wind slabs were thick, deep and large. Slopes beneath the leeward sides of cornices were heavily loaded and several slid- one 7-9' deep on a 32-34 degree slope! Upper layers were not very reactive, and not until late in the day was water percolating in deeper layers. Snow was falling moderately-heavy throughout the late afternoon, so expect another 5-7" fresh atop today's