Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Brent Herring · Nov 14, 2020 · Vail & Summit County

View on map

Weather

Overcast, light snow, windy. Well sheltered in the gulch. Swirling winds seemed to converge along the NW ridge where it was blowing snot over 30+mph. Wind direction was indecipherable.

Snowpack

A lot of spatial variability. Estimated up to 2ft HS within a couple hundred feet of the NW ridge on a NE aspect with sparse vegetation ~11.5-12k. Progessively less snow with lower elevation from there. The sheltered trail BTL didn't have more than 6in. Snowpack was generally unfaceted. Observed a thin layer of ice crystals right at the ground. Rest of the snowpack was relatively homogenous decomposing snow. Fairly supportable. Some wind slab formation in more open areas. Observed moderate shooting cracks (photo). No formal snowpit dug.