Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Kreston Rohrig · Apr 24, 2020 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

A mixed bag of clouds, light snowfall, and bright sunny patches.

Snowpack

The new snow was warming quickly. It wasn't wet when we were out there, but turning to what I like to call "hot pow," kind of a heavy, sort of sticky, but still ski-able texture. With the warming, the new snow was settling rapidly, becoming more cohesive, and failed easily on the crust below. On a couple steeper rollovers we could easily initiate small avalanches in the storm snow that behaved like a wet slab. These failed at our skis and slowly gained mass as they moved downhill.

Avalanche

Small soft/slightly wet slides on ski cuts