Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Matt Carples · Feb 14, 2017 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Clear skies, light wind, no transport, no precip. Temps around the mid 20's.

Snowpack

Pit location was on a NNE aspect, just above treeline, at 11,800 ft. We were about 100 feet below the ridgeline. Slope angle was 32 degrees. HS 215cm. We dug down about 175 cm, with the bulk of it being 1F to 1F+/P hardness. Found softer layers (4F) 40cm from the surface and 100 cm from the surface. CT and ECT had no positive results (CTN and ECTX), although shovel shears broke easily and cleanly at the 40 cm interface (Q1 SP). Under the loupe, the layer 40cm from the surface appeared to be rounding facets around 1mm in size. Overall, weak layers were present and potentially worrisome, but the overall strength of the windslabs kept things extremely stable. This outlook matched our skiing experience, as we skied numerous nearby steep slopes without any activity.

Avalanche

2 small avalanches were visible further west along the headwall. Both appeared to be caused by cornice collapses and were small in size (R1/D1.5?).