Vail & Summit County
SnowpackAmanda Loughlin · Feb 19, 2025 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Broken skies, warm temps, moderate northwest winds with active snow transport.
Snowpack
New snow was warming on south aspects below tree line, and I found a height of snow here around 75cm. A hand shear on north facing aspect at 10,600ft below tree line showed new snow sitting on top of a faceted snowpack. I probed on north facing aspects between 10,600 and 11,400ft and could not find a distinguishable slab aside from small, irregular wind loaded features. The height of snow around 11,000ft ranged from 120-210cm and I could barely get my probe through deep, wind loaded spots. Probing on northeast aspects, I finally found a consistent slab and average height of snow around 150cm. A snow pit here revealed new snow, decomposing fragments, facets, and a K hard slab sitting on top of facets and depth hoar. This structure did not produce results on extended column tests (ECTX x2) but when I moved the snow it came down in one slab on the depth hoar layer.