Vail & Summit County
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Jan 4, 2016 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Bluebird in the morning. High clouds moving in from the west all day and by the time I left it was more overcast. Light southwest breeze near treeline with no snow being transported. Temps felt like they were above freezing.
Snowpack
Snow surface became moist on steeper southerly aspects today. Did not observe any rollerballing. Shady aspects below treeline becoming unsupportable again as snow from late December quickly facets. Near treeline the upper snowpack is very supportable and you can get out of your skis without sinking to the ground (foot pen.= 30cms). Snowpack structure near treeline on an easterly aspect is fair. Although the lower half of the snowpack is all faceted there is a lot of strength in the faceted snow as the facets have bonded and compressed under the weight of the X-Mas storm snow. The layer of concern is at the interface of the late December snow and the lower half of the faceted snowpack. Hard compression test results on this layer but I doubt that this layer interface would be able to handle an additional substantial load.
Avalanche
No current or previous avalanches observed.