Vail & Summit County
SnowpackJason Konigsberg, Ethan Greene · Nov 26, 2016 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Temperature from local weather station. HS ranged from 10 to 20 cms on east aspects to 20 to 40 cms on previously loaded northeast slopes.
Snowpack
During our tour we experienced cracking underneath of our skis on all of the slopes we traveled. The cracks were propagating on a mid-pack weak layer that often was above a thin wind crust. In a few cases, the slab (8 feet wide at the most) would move downhill a few inches. Due to the thin nature of the slab and the variability of the slab across the slope there was little cause for concern. What we did learn was that this mid-pack weak layer will be a cause for concern once it is loaded. I found this same layer in different areas of the zone in the last few days. This layer may be more continuous and reactive than weak snow at the ground...As far as the basal layer- northeast aspects showed well-developed depth hoar while east aspects were very thin and faceted but very little if any depth hoar was present. Splitting hairs here as both aspects are holding a poor snowpack structure and will avalanche with a significant loading event. The big difference between northeast and east aspects is snow depth. It will take a much larger loading event for east aspects to come into play...Future avalanches would be expected to be pockety as there are many exposed rocks and ground cover throughout most slopes.