Vail & Summit County
SnowpackDrew Gibson · Dec 14, 2022 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Cold and windy. Overcast with brief periods of sun and sucker holes of blue sky. By 1400 a small wave moved in and started snowing again.
Snowpack
Traveling along the top of NE-facing terrain ATL, slopes were top and cross-loading with the NW wind. Pillows were reactive but isolated to the loaded feature. No cracking or collapsing was noted above treeline. The pillows and slabs I was able to examine safely are 1 Finger to Pencil hard and it is difficult to affect the snow underneath while on skis. Not all loaded areas are firm, some are quite soft and it is easy to "fall" through the new load into the weak snow underneath. The recent wind has definitely made hard slabs near ridge crest. Near treeline on east and southeast aspects the new snow was more cohesive than below treeline and isolated cracking was observed in the storm snow. Rumbling collapses were heard in multiple places on these aspects near treeline. Below treeline I found up to 9" of new snow resting on decomposing new snow and near surface facets. Where I dug to the ground I found fully developed depth hoar under an old, decomposing melt-freeze crust. Though the MF crust is relatively soft, it is supportive enough to hold up the persistent slab above it. See the attached pit for test scores and structure. On the due south aspects near and below treeline there is a melt-freeze crust just under the new snow, this formed last Sunday/Monday and is about 4-6cm thick. The crust is mostly supportive on skis and on steeper terrain features it is easy to get the new snow to sluff off slash turns.