Vail & Summit County
SnowpackJohn Snook · May 22, 2011 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Storm total since May 18 at A-Basin 31" (2.61" of water). Winds during first day from SSE. Relatively light day 2 then going to west. Heavy riming above 12,000' on 20th and 21st.
Snowpack
Initial snow bonded well on the 19th with greater loading on north aspects. Ski cuts got little activity on the 20th. Snowfall increased on the afternoon of the 20th into the morning of the 21st. Ski cuts morning of 21st created numerous shallow sluffs that ran far given low volume. Wind speeds increased from west morning of 21st - very efficient at moving snow. Visibility very limited. More snow evening of 21st. Significant cornice build-up on easterly aspects by morning of 22nd. Huge cornices in backcountry are now even bigger. Cornice trimming generated chunks up to 4' in length. Cracks propagated quickly up to 15' along cornices. Natural activity evident from Saturday, but buried underneath new snow from Saturday night. One good sized slide (probably natural) occurred during Sunday morning just north of Kitchen Wall (south of Loveland Pass, west of highway). Snowboarder remotely triggered slide about 2pm Sunday - looker's right of Shockley's. Started in vicinity of cornice, and broke down into deeper snow about half way down track. This is first evidence of a slide breaking down into older snow for at least a couple of weeks. Two other slides (probably natural) occurred around 2:30pm - one above of just north of Pass Lake and the other around Boy Scout just south and west of Loveland Pass Summit.