Vail & Summit County
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Dec 22, 2015 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Intermittent snow showers (S-1). No wind BTL. Light wind NTL with not much wind loading. Snow totals this morning 1-2". Storm snow felt dense. Mild temperatures.
Snowpack
I traveled in mostly below treeline terrain. The storm snow from the last week sits on a faceted snowpack. At lower elevations (BTL) the new snow felt slabby and would crack under skis. The cracks were not just new snow but about a foot down. The storm snow from the last week settled into a slab over the softer and weaker middle and lower snowpack. Stability test results were unimpressive. With higher snowfall amounts not yet verifying, the weak snowpack below treeline is still not to the breaking point. I did although get a collapse on a thirty degree slope while traversing underneath.
Avalanche
None observed