Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Dec 1, 2015 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Cold- low teens. Northerly breeze and high RH made it bitter at times.

Snowpack

Lots of wind-drifted snow on westerly slopes below treeline with upslope wind. Irregular loading patterns made for a non-cohesive slab. Light wind-loading on to east through south aspects just at ridegtop. Not much loading below ridgeline on lee aspects. Below treeline snowpack is mostly faceted except for new HST. On upper 30 degree slopes it was easy to initiate facet sluffs. The small Loose Dry avalanches not gouging down to deeply into the snowpack yet. In the near future, Loose Dry avalanches will be more of a concern than slab formation on shady aspects below treeline in this area. No significant instabilities or recent avalanches noted. The new 1-2" wind slab would fail on low-density snow below but inconsequential. Many hard slabs resting on facets are now hidden with new snow near tree line.