Vail & Summit County
AvalancheJason Konigsberg · Nov 6, 2015 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Light winds with moderate gusts at ridgetop. No wind below treeline. Snow stopped around 11am and skies were mostly obscure. Towards afternoon the sky became broken and the sun came through at times.
Snowpack
Snowpack obs are from near to above treeline. There is very little snow below treeline. HS 30cms on north through southeast aspects. South and southwest were bare almost up to 12k feet before last storm so these aspects consist of new snow only. West and northwest have been getting stripped from previous and current strong winds. Overall, there is not much of a cohesive slab on any aspect to be of much concern. The exception would be in heavily wind loaded areas. The snowpack on the east-northeast aspect that I investigated was weaker that I had suspected. In heavily wind loaded areas, such as easterly aspects off of ridgetop and cross-loaded terrain features, triggering small avalanches on the basal facets would be possible.
Avalanche
Very small avalanche triggered on a ski cut near ridgetop. 6-8cms deep.