Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Seth Hyman · Jan 11, 2015 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

10AM-1330PM. Mostly cloudy, with temperatures just below 32F. Winds were negligible until above the southern flank of Trelease, at which sustained winds, W/NW, of approximately 10 mph with gusts to 20. Mild valley inversion. Cloud cover began to increase around 1300

Snowpack

Variable depth, and form. I encountered every measurable hardness, from F to K. HS was also highly inconsistent ranging from bare to 200 cm K hard drifts and cornices. I did not observe surface hoar formation, but rather intermittent and patchy ice sheeting. There were also icicles hanging from southern facing pine trees at treeline (11500') Below treeline on S/ SE slopes HS was mostly @ 100 cm. The treeline snowpack, between 10700' and 11100' showed the most variation and layering. In areas that were not wind effected, and P-K hardness, I noticed about 25 cm of loosely consolidated crystals that were progressively less dense to more dense--- top to bottom. Otherwise said, right-side up from the surface to about 25 cm depth. This "layer" was resting on top of a dense and cohesive bridge of variable thickness (30-50 cm). Of course, pockets of DH facets are everywhere, but deep and a larger percentage of the overall HS around SW edges of rock formations. K hard wind slabs along S/ SE/ and SW facing ridges above 12'000. The snow pack had very inert quality to it. No noise, no movement, and areas that had high SWE in the previous week were frozen solid. The aforementioned ice sheeting seemed to be forming in patches, as opposed to covering the entire slope, much the way surface hoar forms, so perhaps it was surface hoar that had formed, melted, and refroze? This layer had been drifted over in areas, and was superficial in others

Avalanche

Nothing Recent