Vail & Summit County
AvalancheCalen Orlowski · Apr 26, 2017 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Light snow and wind from climax corner to near 13,000". The fog line hovered just above 13K.
Snowpack
4"-8" loaded in isolated terrain features on top of a variety of firm bed surfaces. We did not observe cracking/collapsing/whumphing while approaching any lines, nor when we booted up one of the couloirs.
Avalanche
We triggered small wind slab pockets in loaded/protected areas within north facing couloirs above treeline. These pockets pulled out when ski cut, likely on slopes greater than 38 degrees. They were 4"-10" deep and only propagated 5'-10' out, and ran about 50'-100'. These were big enough to take you off your feet but not large enough to bury someone.