Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Ethan Greene · Dec 12, 2016 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Strong ride-level winds, moving snow but many slopes stripped. OVC with multiple mid-level cloud layers.

Snowpack

Above treeline slopes where generally stripped of snow on both sides of the ridgeline (east and west facing). Multiple and significant whumpfing in wind-loaded areas near treeline. Without wind drifts, snowpack on westerly aspects remains shallow (60 cm). The upper layers are strong enough to support a skier but stability tests produced slab fractures (multiple tests in 10-20 taps range). Below treeline snow is supportable and we did not observe any cracking or collapsing.

Avalanche

No recent avalanche activity observed.