Vail & Summit County
SnowpackAndrew McWilliams · Mar 6, 2023 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Scattered clouds and moderate to strong winds above treeline from the southwest. Temperatures climbed into the high twenties.
Snowpack
The snow below treeline on a northerly aspect was primarily composed of faceted grains with about 30cm of decomposing fragments near the surface. The upper layers of the snowpack were generally supportable to ski travel, but in many places we collapsed into older snow deeper in the pack. Boot penetration was knee to hip deep. Test results in a snowpit on a northeast-facing aspect below treeline had no results in an Extended Column Test. A Compression Test had a sudden collapse at the interface of the decomposing grains and faceted grains. A Propagation Saw Test at this interface had a slab fracture after a cut length of 20cm into a 100cm block. We didn't observe any signs of instability in the snowpack as we descended.