Vail & Summit County

Snowpack

Jason Konigsberg · Mar 27, 2018 · Vail & Summit County

Weather

Easterly clouds were banking up against the east side of the Tenmile Range this morning with mostly clear skies to the west. These clouds decreased throughout the day with mostly sunny and warm conditions.

Snowpack

I went to look for persistent weak layers underneath wind-drifted snow from last Friday's storm. I did not find any preserved persistent layers or evidence of thick wind-drifted slabs. Numerous compression tests on a variety of slopes yielded moderate to hard results with nothing to mention as far as fracture character. The only sudden planar result was under a thin 2 inch wind-packed crust on above treeline north through east slopes. This thin slab would only be an issue for backcountry rider if traveling in extreme terrain and swept off of your feet. The only other layer to watch is a softer snow layer about 30-40 cms from the surface sandwiched between relatively harder snow on top and a very hard surface below. As stated above, it is non-persistent. This layer was also unreactive in extended column tests.---All in all, no signs of instability and the area I traveled in had a relatively deep and strong snowpack. Average HS was about 2 meters. As is the case for many areas in Colorado, the thinnest and rockiest isolated areas would still be suspect for triggering an avalanche that breaks at the ground.