Vail & Summit County
SnowpackBill Hoblitzell · Jan 8, 2021 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Sunny, calm to light winds, mid 20s
Snowpack
The snowpack seems generally even thinner at this end of the zone than Vail Pass area, ranging from 50-100 cm deep in non-loaded areas. It was weak at the bottom everywhere, and the soft mid-pack snow below treeline was just barely supportable of skis. Med/Lg surface hoar 4-6mm was present in all protected openings below and near treeline on W facing slopes near Polar Star Hut. We observed occasional collapses and whumpfs in these areas. They did not propagate very far from the skier, there is just no real cohesive midpack slab to transmit the collapse very far. Areas near and above treeline had a more supportable wind slab under the recent snow from Tuesday 1/5/21. Whumpfing/collapses were frequent in these area, and many propagated tens of meters across the shallow slopes at treeline. Shooting cracks to the slab edges were often visible. Looking towards upper Nolan Creek and Gold Dust pk, there is not much snow yet in the alpine. No significant avalanches were visible from our route other than small cornice and wind pocket failures. Although there is weak snow everywhere, it seems like there is just not enough load on it to get much moving. We had excellent rock skiing on low angle slopes above treeline SW of the hut. The snow skiing on the other hand was only fair to passable. Please remember when tipping your ski tuners: quantity is more important than quality.